


Gina's Story

by Valentine20xx



Series: The Adventures Of Sweet Berry (スイートベリーの冒険) [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-10-27 18:22:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20764880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: In a alternate future, where the concept of 'underage relationships' has been redefined, a young girl meets a new friend quite by accident, and discovers their mutual love for each other and the mysterious 'Sweet' Berry...





	1. A Very Strange Day

**Author's Note:**

> The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

She bolted upright in her bed with a gasp. It had happened again, one of those dreams, and now she was covered in a thick layer of musky sweat that caused her nightgown to cling to her awkwardly. What didn’t help was that, instead of feeling the need to peel it off, she wondered if she could make it cling tighter. The last vestiges of the dream returned to her tired mind. In it, she was tied to a wall, while someone walked in front of her, running their hands over her body casually, and she had… she had...

She blushed as she considered how much she’d enjoyed having her body explored in that way. What troubled her most wasn’t the fact that she knew the other person in her dream had been female, she’d long since accepted that was how her dreams went, but at the tender age of thirteen, she knew nothing about why she kept wanting to be bound. It had even entered her waking world, like in class today she had used the strap of her backpack to bind her ankles to her desk. She'd almost been caught by the teacher, but for some reason she was able to relax more during the test they were taking.

Gulping against the lump that had formed in her throat, she peeled herself out of the tangled mess her sheets were now in and searched for her alarm clock. It was too late to go back to bed, as her alarm would be ringing in another thirty minutes. Instead she set about straightening up the mess she'd made in her dream. It was the third time this week, when they'd started it was about once a month... they were getting worse, and quickly. After smoothing out her sheets, and showering, she made it back to her room just in time to stop the alarm from going off.

Class was going to be a major pain today, after waking up early, class was always a problem to stay awake during, it was only made worse by the fact today was a big test. She could already feel her nerves build as she slipped her glasses on, looking at herself in the vanity mirror. She had to ace this test, or her parents would start ignoring her again. Her eyes wandered over to where she had left all the hair ribbons and such that her parents had gotten her over the years, there was something sitting on top of the pile that caught her attention.

A thin black ribbon of silk with red hearts printed on it. She could... couldn't she... just a simple tying of her left hand... to help her relax for the test… Plucking the ribbon out of its resting place, she tucked it into the pocket of her blazer as she hurried downstairs to eat breakfast. Lowering her eyes, she felt the old familiar feeling of loneliness creeping into her heart as she rounded the staircase that led to the main hall. The sound of her shoes softly clicking echoed unnaturally throughout her house. It was empty right now, like most of the time.

Entering the kitchen she got a box of cereal from the cabinet and poured it into a waiting bowl she'd set out last night before bed. A few steps later had her adding milk to the bowl, and juice to the nearby glass. With the preparations complete she settled in to an east facing window and watched the sun rising over the horizon. As the light warmed her face, she wondered if her driver would have some funny story about her daughter today. It was nice to experience such a warm family connection, even if it was only vicariously.

After her quick breakfast she loaded her dishes into the dishwasher and walked to the main hall again where she settled down next to the door with her backpack to wait. Nervously she chewed the inside of her lower lip and fiddled with the ribbon in her pocket. It was still a half-hour until her driver was scheduled to arrive, maybe if she tied the ribbon to her wrist now she could hook it on the armrest and settle down a little… No, she couldn't risk her parents finding out. They wouldn't approve of this weirdness, they wanted her to be normal.

That's why she hadn't told them about this, or that she was interested in other girls. It had to be just a phase she was going through, and she didn't need to be sent to a psychologist. That'd just make her stand out worse. Still worrying the inside of her lip, she found herself wrapping her fingers together with the ribbon, relishing in the feel of the tightness of it. Her mind began to slowly drift away as she wound the ribbon in different ways around her fingers, mixing up which ones got paired to see how she could stretch her hand out.

After about ten minutes, she had all four fingers wrapped securely together, and started watching them redden as the blood pooled inside them. After about thirty seconds she shook her head and loosened the hold, smiling as they returned to normal. It wasn't good to go too tight after all, could damage something... Already her fingers were covered with indentations of where the ribbon had been wrapped. As she looped it around her wrist, and tied it into a little bow, she hoped no one would notice the marks that she'd left accidentally.

Even as she worried over that, her skin began returning to normal in those areas. It seemed that she would have to be careful of what she did, she didn't want to risk anything permanently damaging her. It would lead to her talking to a shrink, and they scared her. She'd already lost one friend after they visited a psychologist, she didn't want to end up in a padded room. Even if she would be bound all the time she wanted, and if she got a cute intern as her nurse… She stopped herself, realising her fantasies had taken over for a moment.

Checking her handiwork, she smiled as she saw just enough slack on her little ribbon to catch on the edge of the desks and hold her wrist firmly in place. It was perfect, and just in time as she saw the sedan with her driver pulling up to the doors now. Grabbing her bag, she rushed out and got into the backseat, buckling in extra-firmly as usual. She also managed to hook her ribbon into the seat belt and smiled as she realized how limiting it was to have her wrist bound like this. For some strange reason she found it relaxing instead.

The drive was once again the highlight of her morning, as her driver loved playing classic 80’s and 90’s music, and talked the entire time about her six year old daughter just starting first grade. It was nice to hear about the little girl that used to ride beside her in a baby-seat as she went to school and back home. They'd played games all the time, and she'd really learned to look forward to going for the rides, but now the little girl was growing up, and Gina was left standing on the outside again.

They made it to school precisely on schedule, and after thanking her for the ride, the driver left Gina right at the doors. Making it to her classroom with plenty of time to spare, she felt the eyes of the only other person in the room, her teacher Ms. Kerstein watching her as she sat down at her desk in the back of the room, near the window. Taking great care to show her the entire process, she neatly tucked her straps into her bag and set it carefully in the little shelf for it. Her attention turned to the chalkboard, and she began the process of trying to not fidget under Ms. Kerstein's steady gaze.

She wasn't sure if it was about the straps or not, but ever since she'd felt that the teacher had been watching her closely. It was kind of thrilling actually to feel her bracelet snag on the edge of her desk and let it restrict her movement while the teacher watched. There was nothing that she could suspect, since it didn't look like Gina was moving at all. Not moving, while someone sat and watched her, hmm there was an idea… Forced to remain perfectly still, or else the person would punish her, she remained as still as a statue, and just as silent.

For some reason this cause the brunette's breath to shorten and a strange heat to rise to her face. That was nice, being bound by some invisible force, made to remain perfectly stationary no matter what. No, not nice, that was what was going wrong in her dreams, and now it was hitting her in the waking world! She had to be normal, she had to fit in with everyone else, or else her parents would send her to a psychologist and she'd lose herself. Unhooking herself, she looked around nervously to see if anyone had noticed her odd behavior, and locked eyes with Ms. Kerstein.

As she gazed into those hard nearly black eyes, she knew she'd been caught acting strangely, and something inside her made her want to shrink back and bow her head. Ducking her head down and averting her eyes, she focused instead on watching her schoolmates arriving, not noticing the teacher’s small smile at Gina’s antics. All Gina knew was that she was still watching her, and thought she was in trouble, and would end up staying after class. Maybe, if she was discreet, she could avoid it this time.

She hadn't called her on it yet, so that must mean she was going to wait until after class. If Gina could just wait long enough she'd blend into the background like always and be able to skip out on punishment. At least that's what she hoped would happen.

“Class, because of the importance of this test and new school rules... I'm afraid you'll have to bring your bags and any other possible means of cheating to the front of the room...” Ms. Kerstein stated after the bell had rung, “That includes things like mobile phones, MP3 players, palmtop devices, calculators, jewellery and ribbons. Personally, I don’t see how the last one applies, but you can either tuck them into your bags, or trust them in my desk.”

With the rest of the class she filed up to the front and dropped off her bag, turning away without a second thought. At least until she was stopped by the teacher.

“Gina? The ribbon around your wrist? I wouldn’t want to abuse the rules for such a good student...” Ms. Kerstein stated, and a blush formed on her cheeks as she realized she had forgotten it. Worrying the inside of her lip she fingered the ribbon on her wrist, she didn't want to take it off, but she didn't want to be busted for cheating. Undoing the knot she'd made, she slid the ribbon off her wrist and put it inside her bag. As she was straightening back up, she noticed that Ms. Kerstein was watching her again, and the blush deepened on her cheeks.

“I... I.... I'm sorry Ms. Kerstein... I... I just forgot I put it on...” Gina explained before rushing back to her seat. After she sat down, and began waiting for the rest of the girls to finish she felt her mind drifting away again. This time she began to wonder about just how far one could go to cheat... they could even sew answers into their sleeves. Maybe they should have all the girls strip naked to take the test. It would make sure there was no cheating going on… Just as she was about to scold herself for being weird again, she heard the rustle of papers indicating the tests were being passed out.

It seemed she'd awaken from her daydream just in time to take the tests from the girl in front of her, grab hers, and pass the rest on. She focused on the test, knowing that if she didn't she would let her mind wander again and she'd fail. As she worked through the test, she felt her fingers twitching as the nerves build up. She wished that the desk would snare her fingers tight to the wooden surface to bind her hand into place. Biting the inside of her lip, she let her imagination focus on the feeling of being unable to move her fingers off the hard surface, while the other continued answering the questions.

Every time she felt a body part twitching, she'd focus on that limb being bound to another place of the desk. Each new part increased her ability to focus on the test. Just as she had finished binding up all her body save her right arm, something happened that caused her concentration to be utterly torn asunder. In fact the entire class looked up at the same instant to find the loud, annoying ring-tone. One of the girls towards the front of the room must have recognized the pseudo-song that was being blared out of the tiny speakers, for she rushed over and dug out a cell phone out of one of the bags and hit the power button to turn off the phone.

“That'll be ten points off your exam Miss Jones, now please return to your seat. Everyone we have another half-hour left for the exam, please finish up any questions you have remaining,” the teacher stated as calmly as though the phone hadn't broken her concentration over something. Gina took this opportunity to look down at her answer sheet, and start breaking out in a cold sweat. She was mostly finished, but her mind was going utterly blank on the rest of the questions. Some of them she couldn't even figure out what they were asking.

Mercifully the remaining questions were on the multiple choice parts, and not the essay questions. She could guess the right answers if she was lucky enough. The ones she actually understood she managed to get at least a fifty-fifty chance on by logical elimination, but the rest... Yeah she was in trouble with those. It looked like none of them were even covered in class, the text, or any of the handouts they'd received. Worrying the inside of her lip she began going through those questions, putting her best guess and hoping that she got at least three of them to maintain her straight A average in this class.

She couldn't get an A- again, her parents would start to completely ignore her again and she'd feel like she would just disappear into the background. She finished answering the remaining questions just in time for the bell to ring for the end of class. She waited a couple of minutes as the rest of her class filed to the front and dropped off their exams, before joining the line-up. She made it past the desk and was just about to make it out of the room when she heard the voice of her teacher. She prepared for the inevitable punishment...

“Gina? Do you have time to help me out with something... it shouldn't take the entire break period...” Ms. Kerstein stated, startling her, “I should have realised the ribbon was intended as a concentration aid. You are normally so focused, but you seemed to go to pieces after Sarah’s phone went off. She’ll be getting more than ten points off the exam, since any kind of phone call during an exam is investigated.”

“S...Sure Ms. Kerstein,” She answered quietly before turning back to see what she needed to help with. Instead of saying anything, the teacher simply reached into her desk and dug out a set of keys. A warm smile spread over the older woman's face as she nodded towards the doorway.

“Go ahead and set your bag down, we just have to go get some materials for the next class.” Ms. Kerstein explained, grabbing the attention of a passing teacher, and handing them a piece of paper, “Have Sarah Jones go to the principal’s office. She got a phone call during the test we just did...”

Gina obeyed, tucking her bag out of the walkway carefully and following the teacher as she walked down the halls, heading for a storage closet on the other end of the school. The walk was a quiet one, as neither spoke for the entire way. After Ms. Kerstein opened the door and the pair were inside the former bomb shelter that had been turned into something of a storage shed, they walked along the loaded shelving units. Finally at the far end of the tunnel, they found what they were supposed to take back, it was also the first time either spoke.

“Gina... I couldn't help but notice you seemed to be daydreaming before class today... have you been sleeping alright?” Ms. Kerstein stated, “With how you lost all focus when that damn phone call happened...”

Gina froze in mid-step, stiffening her spin as she worried that she'd been found out, but then the logical part of her mind told her that she was just worried about her student. Relaxing a bit, she felt that it hadn't been noticed as the teacher had her back to her.

“N... Not really ma'am... I... I've been having strange dreams... and... and getting these urges...” Gina began, for Ms. Kerstein to smile.

“Oh right. Well, It’s not a problem. I knew these girls, Lori and… Zee. Not a nickname, per se, That’s the only name I know for her… were inseparable...” Ms. Kerstein began as she looked through the shed, stopping as she pointed to a long box sitting on one of the shelves, “These are the maps we’ll need, take that end for me please...”

Gina scooped up her end of the box as the words sunk into her mind. It was normal to have these types of urges. She was still normal, but that didn't make sense... maybe her teacher was misunderstanding what she was talking about. But that was okay, because if she was, she wasn't thinking the girl was weird. The fact she mentioned two girls, not a girl and a boy, suggested she wasn’t as clueless as she seemed, but hadn’t noticed her urges about being restrained as well. So why did her parents find her liking girls weird, but not her teacher?

The walk back to the doorway was uneventful, until Gina walked into the door, and tried to push it open. It didn't budge. In fact she couldn't even find the knob to open it from the inside.

“Ms. Kerstein... I... I don't see the door knob...” She called, for the teacher to look around the girl with a frown, before snapping her fingers.

“That's right, you need to use the key to open the door and then push it open... now where was that keyhole… I told them that the lock was finicky, but they wanted to use the space...” Ms. Kerstein muttered, while Gina's eyes began roving over the area around the door trying to find the keyhole. But in her mind, she felt a bit of an enjoyment at the thought of being trapped. If only the area was smaller, it would be better. That's when her eyes caught upon a stack of items that had to have been confiscated from students through the years.

There were several magazines, a few books, and a lot of accessories that didn't look like they broke any of the rules. Three things in particular caught her attention. On the top of the pile was one of a woman in what looked like a straitjacket with several chains round it, about restraints through the years, a sticker on it suggesting the history teacher took offence at teaching classes like that to teenagers. Over in the clothing accessories were a pair of leather bracelets with three link chains hanging off each of them towards the inside, and a black choker with what looked like a silver heart on it.

“Ah! There it is...” Ms. Kerstein stated while lowering her end of the map box to the ground, “Just a minute.”

Gina held the box casually as she watched her teacher walking towards her. After getting within a few steps, she leaned over between the girl and a stack of boxes, letting a loud click sound behind her before pushing open the door.

“Take a step out please, and hold the door while I get the other end, okay?” Ms. Kerstein offered. Gina complied, using her foot to block the door from closing again. Somewhere deep inside she realized that the feeling that was building in her gut was disappointment. She'd wanted to remain trapped a little longer with her teacher. She doubted however the teacher knew anything about her other urges.

“Oh Gina... since you're being such a help, I'll let you know... those items you were looking at were taken from lockers over the summer or, in one or two cases, less forward-thinking, and usually male, teachers refused to use as textbooks... we're thinking of selling them if they're not claimed by next month... if you'd like, and keep helping out your teachers... I could talk them into letting you root around in them before they do...” Ms. Kerstein stated, “I was going to box them up anyway...”

“Y... you don't have to do that ma'am... I... I don't need preferential treatment...” Gina answered with a heavy blush to her cheeks. It was nice to be given a chance at those things before anyone else, but she couldn't accept it outright. She also looked confused at why she’d picked up the book at all.

“No, it's not a problem... I'll even talk to the others about it at tonight's meeting and we'll see how it goes,” the teacher continued as the door slammed shut behind her. The pair carried the map back to the classroom in a friendly silence, and had even set it up with half the break period remaining, “How about some juice? My treat...”

“Juice?” Gina asked curiously as she looked up at the clock. “I... I suppose... some apple juice if they have it left... would be nice... but I should pay for it... after all you're going out of your way to talk to the others about getting me those things before they sell them...”

“I insist, you did help me after all,” Ms. Kerstein stated firmly while leading the girl to the lounge. “And Gina... if you ever need to talk... I'm always willing to listen, and won't judge you too harshly...”

“Thank you ma'am... I... I don't feel comfortable talking about it yet... but... if... if I do...”

“It's nothing Gina. Us teachers are here to help. If you're ever in a bind, we'll do anything we can to help you out… Not just safewords can help you sometimes...” Ms. Kerstein cut in, somewhat warmly, while patting the girl lightly on the shoulder. Gina felt her cheeks redden as a strange warmth spread throughout her body from her shoulder. This was nice. The rest of the day was rather uneventful, until she was heading out to the sedan waiting to drive her home.

For some reason the entire way there, she swore there was someone watching her, but no matter how much she looked, she couldn't find a single possible source. Gina smiled warmly at the little girl, especially after she started talking about how awesome Gina's hair was, and that she was going to grow her own out to be long like hers. And how she was going to study really hard to get a scholarship to the awesome middle school that Gina was in, and that she really loved the pretty cloths Gina had convinced her parents to give to the driver's daughter. Giving her a hug as she stepped out of the car, Gina smiled at the little girl.

“Well Marie, you are doing so wonderfully, I'm glad to hear it. I'll get you something extra special for your birthday next month. Okay?” Gina offered.

“Kay!” Marie called out with a huge grin, which was infectious as Gina found herself returning it to the little girl. As the car drove away, Gina called out a friendly “Be good!” reminder before heading into her empty house, alone. Maybe she should have talked to her teacher about those dreams. But she didn't think she was ready. Besides, it's not like she'd have cared about them...


	2. Through The Looking Glass

It had been a week, and Gina had all but forgotten about the day of the exam and the discussion of her getting first pick of the items in the storage hall. She was reminded during lunch when Ms. Kerstein called her aside as the other girls left.

“Hello Gina... I was wondering if you'd thought about what we discussed last week...” She asked.

“Yes ma'am... I... I think I might be able to... soon... but...” Gina started, looking down and fidgeting slightly, “I don't think I... I can now...”

Ms Kerstein blinked as she blanked on what exactly her student had meant, but then she remembered what the girl meant.

“Oh!” she stated with a slight laugh.”I'm sorry, I meant those items... the others agreed to let you look, and since we were just selling them to get rid of them, not to raise money... it'll be free. You could even get slightly more than one or two items...”

Gina smiled excitedly as the message sank in, she could pick out some of the items from that pile. She could get the cool choker, or those bracelets, or maybe that book... that book had been in her dreams yesterday... being read by the other person, as they contemplated what to do with Gina.

“Really? I... I mean if you're sure... I wouldn't mind...” Gina answered, while fidgeting with her glasses. It wasn't that she really needed them, but they were a comfortable thing to wear for her. They were just simple cheap plastic frames, but they'd been fitted with the plastic lenses used in theatre productions. She just felt better wearing them. Ms Kerstein smiled warmly and patted her on the shoulder again.

“Meet me at the office by the main doors after school before you get picked up and you can look through them. Okay?”

“Yes ma'am,” Gina answered happily before getting dismissed to go to lunch. If she had looked back once, she'd have seen Ms. Kerstein fold her hands together as a victorious smirk played across her face. She’d found out who those last items were for, and they’d go well with Gina...

But no one noticed, so the school day went on as normal, though Gina found it harder and harder to focus on class as the final bell approached. Thankfully after lunch she only had a study hall followed by gym, which was spent outside running laps around the track. While she was running, Gina allowed herself to focus on the items awaiting her after school. She didn't want to seem greedy, but that pendant seemed to go perfectly with those bracelets. But what if they had other things there?

Like maybe a really cute hairpin, or some new frames she could use to replace the ones she currently had. She really should look through the things without preconceived prejudices...

“LOOK OUT!” was all she heard before a hard, round object the size of her head robbed the wind from her, and sent her spilling to the track. Immediately there was a throng of girls around her, and the gym teacher trying to pry her way to the centre. Her heart thundered in her ears as she tried to shirk away from the throng.

“Let me through... give her some air you, get out of the way!” the teacher ordered while trying to push her way through the mass of girls. Gina for her part was trying to get her lungs to remember what air was. There was suddenly a girl in front of her, pushing some of the others back, not that she noticed much save her hair was a lovely blonde. A couple of coughs later, and she found herself being stretched out on the ground by the gym teacher.

“Relax Gina, just breath in and out... there's a good girl...” The teacher tried, reassuringly. Oh right, breathing, she could do that. In, out. After a few more breaths, she found her eyes meeting a pair of blues that almost matched the sky beyond them.

“Hey, sorry about that... it just got away from me...” The girl offered.

“I... it's fi...fine...” the still winded girl answered while a blush spread over her face. Oh this was so embarrassing, she wished she could just find some dark hole to curl up and hide in. As she laid there, a pair of familiar black frames entered her view causing her to let out a little gasp. Her glasses had fallen off! Pulling them free of the hand and slipping them on her face she tried to hide away the growing blush on her face. “W...what happened?”

“Err... ya see, I was kicking the ball into the goal, and kinda missed...” the blonde girl answered with a nervous laugh, as Gina was helped to a sitting position, allowing her to see she had been walking past the end of the school soccer pitch, “Come on, let's get you to the nurse and checked out...”

“Good idea Alice, you take her, I'll pass on the message to your teacher,” Gina's gym teacher answered with a firm tone, but something about it just sounded off to the bespectacled girl. Ms. Krakov seldom sounded so sure when one of her students were injured, she must be getting better. Gina felt a hand on her arm, helping her up to a standing position before looking the same arm over Alice's shoulders.

“You can trust me, ma'am,” was the last thing Alice said before leading Gina away. Once they got to the school itself, Alice spoke up again. “Hey... Uhh, you're Gina Carlton from Ms. Kerstein's class, right?”

“Y...yes...” came the nervous response from the brunette girl, as she focused on staggering her way to the nurse's. There was just some sort of aura about this girl that made Gina feel inferior. “Y... you're Alice Smith... the forward of the soccer team, and lead scorer, right?”

The laugh from the athlete was magical to the shy girl, as she felt her heart race, her body temperature skyrocket, and she was pretty sure ninety percent of the blood from her body had just settled itself into her face. “Yeah, that's me, I'm in Mrs. Zavier's class. And that soccer thing isn't that big a deal, especially with that lousy aim that hurt you... I'm sorry...”

“It's... it's okay... I... I'll be fine...” Gina reassured her while trying to focus on the walls as they passed, wondering when her body would return to something akin to normal.

“I couldn't help but notice your eyes earlier...” Alice stated after a few steps, sounding slightly mystified, “They're a really nice shade of chocolate brown... and were surprisingly focused for someone that wears glasses...”

It might have been the sharp intake of air, or maybe it was the way she stiffened that alerted Alice to just how busted Gina realized she was. “I... I... I...”

“I'm going to keep it a secret... but I could tell just looking at the glasses they were fakes… If they were real ones, getting hit in the face would have cracked them, even with modern materials,” Alice answered just as they got to Nurse Peterson's office, “In return, how about you and I go shopping this weekend? We can celebrate my win Friday, or you can console me if we lose...”

Gina was about to refuse, claiming that she wasn't really comfortable around others in public like that, but when she saw the sparkle in Alice's eyes she felt some inner reservation inside her crumbling and her head nodded of its own accord. “S...Sure... sou... sounds fun... I... I was already g-going shopping… I… I have to shop for Marie's gift...”

“Marie? Is that a friend of yours?” Alice asked curiously as she pushed open the door and led the injured girl inside.

“Umm… I wouldn’t consider her a friend… She's my driver's daughter... sort of like a younger sister to me...” Gina answered while looking around for the nurse, “Huh... she's not here...”

“I'll sit with you until she gets here...” Alice offered as she laid the winded girl down on the bed. After pulling a chair up next to the bed, she smiled warmly and played with a bit of the sheets. “What are you thinking of getting her?”

Gina looked at the athletic girl for a moment as though trying to sort out her thoughts, after a few minutes she blushed and looked away. A slight lowering of her head later, and she spoke. “I... I had... I was... going to... to look... and...”

“Ah, a browser, nice... I do that myself actually. Makes it more fun, and I think more rewarding when you find the right thing, no?” Alice answered giving her a wide, boyish grin. Which seemed to fit with her short trimmed hair and tanned skin. Gina felt her breath hitch as a blush spread across her face. She couldn't even form a coherent response mentally, instead she just nodded.

“Are you causing trouble again Miss Smith?” a stern yet teasing voice asked from the doorway, causing the pair to look up and find the nurse standing there, “Hello, I'm the nurse, Lori Peterson, I'm afraid I don't remember you, but I hope that means I didn't have to treat you before...”

Gina blushed deeply as she realized the black haired woman with the bright smile was talking to her, and she found her tongue currently replaced by the Gideon knot. She was tall, beautiful, and looked really hot in that white nurse's uniform. Her brain kept trying to restart itself in order to not seem like a complete idiot.

“Err, Gina Carlton ma'am, of Ms. Kerstein's class... I... was hit by an errant soccer ball...”

“I see, I suppose Tina sent you here after that... with the one that kicked it no less...” the nurse answered, while walking over and looking over Gina carefully, “I don't see any bruising to the face or head, so I'm guessing it was elsewhere on your body...”

“Y...yes ma'am... my... stomach...” Gina answered nervously as a heavy blush covered her cheeks, “I... I feel fine... so if... if you'd rather not look...”

“Now now, it's my job to deary, and besides, I'd rather not have a student dying because I missed something because they were bashful... up with the shirt, show me your stomach,” the nurse ordered while motioning for Gina to raise it up to just under her breasts. After she complied, the bespectacled girl was laid back on the bed and a bright white light was shone down on the exposed flesh. She couldn't see, but she was pretty sure that entire area of her body was ghost white, since all her blood was now in her face.

“Oh my... this is very troubling...” the nurse mused, while Gina watched Alice seemingly finding something outside to look at. If she wasn't worried over what the nurse had just said, she'd have seen the sly look on Alice's face, and the slip of her tongue licking her lips. As it was Gina tried to see what was wrong. “You're not an athlete are you? But you have such wonderful muscle tone here...”

Gina's mind was relieved of it's worries, as long slender fingers played over her stomach almost teasingly light.

“It's so troubling that other girls can't be as health conscious as you... all dieting or over eating... not this lovely healthy balance...” The nurse almost purred, while Gina's heart was probably sounding like one of those stunt show snare drums building up to the actual stunt with how it was thundering in her chest. “Nothing wrong, though it'll be a little sore tomorrow and the day after... And red.”

“I... I th...thought I... I was f...fine ma'am...” Gina squeaked out as she wished she could both hide away from the fingers caressing her stomach, and that they'd never stop at the same time. “C...can I lower my sh... shirt now please?”

“Hmm? Oh certainly, certainly, you can go whenever you like...” Nurse Peterson stated as she lifted her hands away and began digging out a folder from her cabinet. “Before you go, I'd like to get some more medical information if you don't mind... Alice, would you get Gina a glass of water?”

Gina sat up just in time to see Alice leaving the office with a plastic cup in hand. Her attention was returned to the nurse when she began flipping through pages of documentation. Gina could just make out her picture clipped to the front cover. “Hmm... it says here that you have perfect 20/20 vision... is this out of date or...”

“N...no ma'am... I just... well... I have this... thing about... I...” Gina started explaining before breaking off and fidgeting nervously. “I'm sorry ma'am... I just... they make me feel better...”

The nurse merely hummed in thought at that and scribbled something down on the paperwork. “So those are costume glasses? They don't look too bad, but I think you'd look better without them dear... That's not my jurisdiction mind, just some advice...”

“Yes, ma'am... I'll... I'll think about it...” came the quiet answer as the poor girl nervously worried the inside of her lip.

“No need to keep calling me ‘ma'am’, Gina. Call me Lori, or Nurse Peterson if you need to, I like to think you girls are able to relax around me,” Lori offered warmly while flipping through the pages again. “Have you ever considered joining any sports, you're certainly fit enough for it...”

“N...n...no L...L... Nurse Peterson... I... I never... I'm... I'm not that g...good with sports and I... well... I...” Gina started, before breaking off with a heavy blush. “Being in front of everyone like that... knowing I'd mess up... and letting the entire team down... I...”

Lori hummed to herself. She could tell Gina’s self-confidence was horrendous, and a note was made in the paperwork confirming what she’d been thinking.

“Enough... I understand... maybe joining a team isn't for you... but I could definitely seeing you joining the dance squad... but enough of that... hmm... no allergies, that's good... and you've recently had a full physical and visit to a gynecologist... everything check out alright for them?” Lori stated, trying to change the subject. The memory of the visit to the gynecologist reminded Gina that even if most of the blood had been in her face earlier, there was still more that could be shoved in there. Mercifully the nurse seemed satisfied with a simple nod of confirmation.

The questions were about to be continued when the door opened and Alice returned with the water for Gina. The blushing girl took the cup gratefully and sipped slowly before bowing her head. “Thank you...”

“No problem... So Nurse Lori, she ready to go back? Class is almost over, and we should get changed...” Alice asked while indicating the gym clothes that they were wearing. The nurse blinked for a moment before smiling and giving her a nod.

“Oh sure, sure, you two can go... Gina, I'd like for you to come back sometime next week so I can check up on you... okay? Nothing urgent, just when you have time.” Lori offered.

“Y...yes ma... Nurse Peterson...” Gina answered as she pushed herself up off the bed and walked over to the door. “Thank you for taking the time to see me...”

“Anytime dear, I just hope it's not for injuries too often, okay?” the older woman answered with a smile of her own before waving the two out. “Get on with you two, and please, just go to the locker rooms and change. I'll tell your teachers to expect you in there, okay?”

“Yes Nurse Peterson...” Gina answered with a slight bow before turning to leave, Alice stayed behind momentarily to wave goodbye. As soon as the doors closed, Lori plucked up the phone on her desk and punched an extension almost casually. After hearing the other end pick up she nearly purred into the mouthpiece.

“They're going to the locker rooms Betty... yeah, tell the gym teachers please... Gina's fine... just a little soreness around the stomach. Mmhmm, that's right, she's wonderful...” Lori stated, “Yes, the items will suit her perfectly. She does have that terrible self-confidence issue, but when she’s older...”

A quick shower and change later, with much of it spent noticing just how long her toenails were getting, Gina was able to sit down and relax for the first time since she'd been knocked flat by a ball a fraction of her size. Today was not one of her finer days, but it should be over soon, and she could get her prize for making it through the day. Thankfully her foul mood was cut short by a now familiar voice speaking up, “What mall you wanna hook up at?”

Gina's head snapped up, to see Alice leaning against the lockers looking at her. She wasn't giving her that disappointed look her parents usually shot her when things like today happened. It was a warm, open smile, that seemed to beg for Gina to consider the blond girl a friend. “W...what m...mall? I... I was thinking the Central... it has the best prices for their selection...”

“Central Plaza eh? Not bad, I'd have thought you'd go to Riches... err Richmond...” Alice answered before blushing and looking away, “Sorry... it's just...”

“My parents are loaded, and you thought I'd be spending that left and right?” Gina countered while studying an interesting rust pattern on the locker in front of her, “I... I have... an issue with my parent's wealth... so... I try not to flaunt it...”

“So... yeah, Central sounds good...” Alice continued, looking slightly uncomfortable, “I heard about a new store opening up there soon... would you mind if we swing past it's location to see how far along it is?”

Now it was Gina's turn to be caught off guard, she'd never really had anyone ask for her permission before. Thinking about it, there was really no point in objecting, since she didn't even know what she was getting or where she was shopping. “N...no I.... I don't mind...”

“Awesome... Umm... do you want me to stop over and talk to your folks first, or something?” Alice offered, rubbing the back of her head with a slightly nervous air about her. It was not a look that Gina liked to see.

“Oh, th... they'll be skiing in the Alps this weekend... but if y...you want to come over, I...I'm sure Haley would love to meet you...” Gina answered shyly while studying her feet, “Haley should be done recharging by then...”

“Recharging? Is she one of those maid robots?” Alice stated, for Gina to wince about something.

“Well, Y-Yes, she is a HALI, Mostly stock parts… I try to keep her running but…” Gina started, sighing, “I sometimes feel she’s more part of my family than my actual family, with them always away doing this or that…”

She broke off, looking down nervously. Honestly for being an original model HALI, it was in excellent shape. Even barring that the battery held a charge like a sieve held water, or that some of Haley's servo-joints were wearing out, even with her cannibalizing parts. She'd always fought against replacing or upgrading her, since she’d no longer be Haley Carlson. The fact the HALI line was depreciated was an even bigger reason...

“Woah, a H.A.L.I.? Cool, I haven't seen one of those in ages, they look so lifelike! And you can't beat their emotional subroutines, can you?” Alice asked with genuine enthusiasm as she settled onto the bench next to Gina.

“No I... I suppose you can't... and she's grown so dear to me... I couldn't dream of replacing her...” Gina answered while a blush tinted her cheeks. Really she'd spent so much time and energy into keeping Haley as a part of her family, they would have an easier time asking her to cut off her own arm than getting her to accept a replacement.

“I heard they’re renewing the model, offering a refurbishment system. Maybe you could get in on beta testing the new chassis...” Alice offered with a small smile, Gina looking confused, “Oh, right… Sweet Berry bought the rights to the H.A.L.I. Model a few months ago. So... I... a lot of the forums were wondering what they were going to be doing with it… then they announced a refurbishment program, full replacement program, the works...”

Sweet Berry... she remembered that name. It had started with a cartoon series about a little girl in a magical land, with a few edutainment titles, and just built from there until it became an international phenomenon. They had product lines in everything from clothes to computers, to musical instruments, to involvements in next gen technology. If they were picking up the H.A.L.I. model household service robot she could possibly get Haley a robust new frame that would mean she’d last another decade or so.

“G-Going back to the mall, I...Is that the new store they're building? I know there's one over in Silverton, but that's three hours away...” Gina asked shyly, cautious to not build up her hopes too much. Alice's face took on a devious little smirk.

“So you're a Sweet Berry fan...” she started, only to start laughing as Gina began to look panicked and try to wave it off, “It's good to meet a fellow fan... I'm hoping that they'll have the store membership club sign-up at the mall...”

“Oh… Oh well, I don’t watch it as much as I should… Don’t know why they show it at such terrible hours...” Gina admitted, “I’m never up for it...”

“I see... well why don't we get you signed up as well, huh? They have awesome sales for members...” Alice offered enticingly as she looked up at the clock. “I also heard that the new game they're putting out will go into closed beta for selected members only. If you get in on the beta, you can earn points to spend at their stores, and get the game, as well as some real world items, for free!”

“R...really? I... I suppose that would be fun...” Gina answered quietly, right before the bell rang, signaling end of day. “I... I do hope they continue the H.A.L.I. line... I would love to get Haley a new chassis... b...but the companies are so proprietary on the AI interfaces...”

“Gotcha, well let's see what happens, huh? I'll be by around 5?” Alice offered as the two of them walked out towards the lockers.

“S...sounds good...” Gina offered as she stopped at one of the off-shooting halls, “I... I don't have any homework today... so I... I think I'll go to the office... I was supposed to meet Ms. Kerstein there after classes today...”

“I think I'll join ya... I don't have any homework either...” Alice offered, stepping up next to the blushing girl, “That is... if it's not personal...”

“N..No... b...but th...they may ask you to leave...” Gina answered back, blushing and fidgeting, “I... I'm n...not even s..sure I should be going... b...but Ms. Kerstein went out of her way for me so...”

“Let's go then,” Alice decided, wrapping an arm around Gina's shoulders lightly. “If they don't want me there, they'll tell me and I'll hang out at the door.”

Gina nodded silently while her cheeks began burning with another blush. She knew that Alice was being friendly, but Gina should probably warn her about the effects her touches were having on her. It wasn't right that she got her sick, perverse thrills out of something as innocent as a friendly gesture. Now if she had the courage to tell her new... friend? Had she really gotten a new friend so suddenly? Something about that made her heart leap and a smile play out across her face. It seemed she wasn't alone at school any more…


	3. The Beginnings Of A New Start

The trip to the office was weird for Gina, she was used to being completely ignored, but today everyone was pointing and whispering about her and Alice. Maybe she shouldn't be walking so close to her, but Alice was the one who had her arm on her shoulder, and it felt really good. But she had to think about Alice's reputation…

The star athlete of the school's soccer team shouldn't be hanging around with a mousey, little nerd like her. Maybe it'd be better if they didn't hang out at the mall this weekend. She didn't want Alice's standing with the rest of the school to drop because of her.

“A...Alice...” Gina started at barely a whisper, trying to get the athlete's attention, “I... I u...understand if y...you don't want to hang out... a...after all... I... I'm a nerd... and... and you're so popular...”

“Oh you're sweet, thinking I care about my own popularity...” Alice teased with a wide grin on her face, “But you're my friend now, and I'm not going to let you go for them. If they don't like it, then they can kiss my sun-tanned...”

“As always, good to see you Gina, and you Miss Smith...” Ms. Kerstein's voice cut in, alerting them to the arrival to the office, “I see that you made a friend... I had worried, but it seems that you're growing into a fine young woman… It’s always better to do anything with a friend...”

“Y...yes ma'am... I... Alice was kind enough to walk me to the nurse's office after I got hit by a soccer ball...” Gina explained, her eyes looking down at Ms. Kerstein's heels, noting that the left one seemed a bit scuffed, part of her wondering why that last comment seemed familiar. The teacher smiled warmly at Gina and patted her on the shoulder.

“I know what happened dear. The call from the nurses office came into the office just in time for me to come in. I have the box set up in a conference room for you... if you want Alice to join you, I suppose she could take a look.” Ms. Kerstein offered.

“I... I don't mind... It's up to her...” Gina answered while trying to disappear from the center of attention. It was too much right now. Nervously shuffling her feet, she looked over at Alice through the bangs of her hair. She wasn't entirely sure herself if she wanted Alice there or not. Alice's nod signaled for Ms. Kerstein to lead them back towards the first conference room and open the door for them. Inside the room was a large cardboard box sitting on top of the table, and on the walls were some dry erase boards.

To be honest she'd always thought the conference rooms were supposed to be nicer, but this seemed ideal for dealing with business. “I'll leave you two alone... Take as much as you like, there's more than enough for that. As I said, we’re probably getting rid of most of it, so...”

Gina's heart leaped at the thought of having those cuffs and choker. She barely heard the door click shut as she walked over and opened the box. Carefully and neatly she began pulling out items and sorted them to the two sides of the box. The left were items she had no interest in, the ones on the right however, being a smaller pile, were what she was going to sort through to find her items. Occasionally she was reminded of Alice's presence when she pulled items out of either pile to look at them closer.

At the very bottom of the box were the cuffs and choker, however with them was another set of cuffs, these seeming to be for the ankles, from the slightly shorter chain, a Sweet Berry personal massage device, and a folded piece of clothing. Unfolding the item of clothing her cheeks went bright red as she realized two things. One: It was her size. Two: She could never wear something that short.

“Gonna try it on? I think you'd look good in it...” Alice teased, causing Gina to snap her hands down and all but throw the skirt back into the box, where it landed amongst the cuffs. Her mind barely registered that the black pleated cloth with metal chains hanging around the waist seemed to match the cuffs perfectly, or the fact she was imagining someone fastening the ankle cuffs onto her and watching her as she tried to walk without tripping.

“N...no! I... I d...don't h...have th...th..the legs f...for.... it...” Gina stuttered out, pulling out the cuffs, choker, and massage device. Sorting them almost automatically, the massage device going to the left, both pairs of cuffs and the choker going to the right.

“I don't know about that Gina... your legs looked great in those shorts of yours...” Alice purred as she leaned against the table, idly pulling the skirt out of the box and laying it casually next to the cuffs Gina'd pulled out. “See how nicely they go together? You could get the entire set...”

Gina felt her eyes linger over the skirt and cuffs longingly, they did look good together, but she could never wear it publicly. Even while she watched, a shirt with Sweet Berry winking on the front, metal chain links wrapping the seams and around the bottom of the hem, joined it, as well as some black fishnet stockings, Alice looking in the box only to frown.

“All you really need would be a pair of high boots and you could have some real fun...” Alice stated, getting out her phone, and finding the tag, “Hmm...”

“F...fun? I... I d...don't know... I... I'd look weird...” Gina stated as she fussed with the keep pile, setting aside a cute little coin purse, that had a little cherub on one side, and a devil on the other. Her eyes however flitted over to the choker laying there, begging for her to take it. The heart in the center had a really cute feathered wing on one side, and a bat wing on the other side, and as she looked closer, she noticed that there were two chains strapped over the heart in an 'X', and the familiar signature of Sweet Berry on the inside.

“Just try on the choker Gina, we don't have time before you're supposed to be picked up, do we?” Alice asked, lifting the band of leather in her hand and walking over towards Gina. “I'll do it up for you as well...”

Gina held perfectly still, feeling her heart race as the slightly taller blonde slid the choker into place and latched it securely closed. It was still loose enough to not choke her, but it felt... comforting to wear the restrictive accessory. Maybe she should think more about wearing the rest of the outfit, she could pick up a pair of boots while shopping this weekend, right? And she could wear a pair of shorts under the skirt. She wouldn't look too weird in it...

Alice appeared back in her vision for a moment before being blocked by a compact's mirror showing her reflection with the new choker in place. It was pretty, it made a statement, and... as a blush filtered into her cheeks, she couldn't help but think that it just wasn't for her, It was far too pretty. She was about to reach up and undo it, when Alice spoke up, “It looks really good on you Gina... you should wear it home...”

Gina froze with a blush to rival a rose burning her cheeks. Could she be too hard on herself? Does the choker really look good on her? Maybe she should give it a little longer before deciding... “R...really? It... it looks good? I...”

“Yeah, why don't ya see how the cuffs fit at home? Just take it all with you...” Alice stated, sliding the pile of clothing and accessories over, “If you want, I can ride home with you and you can show me the full ensemble...”

“B...but it... it's so much... I... should leave something for the others...” Gina answered, trying to fight back the building pressure that her wants provided as she saw the clothes just sitting there and waiting for her. Maybe she could be greedy this once, she did have to repack everything after all. She went over to where the books were stacked, finding the books she’d been looking at, Alice having found a suitable bag to put the clothes in.

“W...What are you getting?” Gina tried, not wanting to think about what had just happened. Alice plucked a set of figurines that Gina had passed on. It's not that she didn't like them, but she didn't collect cat figures, just dragons. Not that anyone beyond Haley and herself would or should ever know that.

“I think my mom'll like these...” Alice offered, “Hell, I’m surprised the principal didn’t take them...”

“Oh...” Gina answered as she considered the bag. It would be a shame to break up the set, and if she tried them on at home, she could get rid of them as easily as she got them. It would hang down to her knees, so she could wear a pair of shorts without them sticking out...

“Come on Gina, take them. I'll even help find some boots to match... we can go out and have fun in it... and just think, if you leave your glasses off no one from school could possibly recognize you...” Alice offered in a sweet tone while handing her the bag, “If, after getting the boots, you don't like it, I'll never bring it up again. Deal?”

“D...deal...” Gina answered, scooping up the rest of the items she wanted and tucking them into her school bag, “Umm... i... if you have to call someone... I can ask Mrs. Adams to wait a couple minutes before taking me home... that way you know how to get there this weekend for the mall trip...”

Alice shrugged and made for follow Gina with a nearly unreadable expression on her face. “Dad's… He’s at work...”

“And your mother?” Gina asked curiously, only to falter when Alice's expression faltered and tears stinging her eyes. “I'm sorry... I...”

“She's in the hospital... very sick... but dad can't take me there to see her until this Friday... it's her birthday...” Alice explained calmly as she looked away, but Gina saw the tears stinging her eyes. It was hard to know what say, after all her parents weren't home enough for her to have the same bond as Alice was hurting from. Gina knew she was lost, and couldn't do anything to help comfort her new friend.

“Uh... if... if you ever need someone to talk to... I... I wouldn't mind listening and trying to help...” Gina offered. The change in Alice's face was rapid, startling and unmistakable. First the tears stopped welling, and instead rolled down her cheeks, then a shot of guilt washed over the blonde's face, and suddenly she was trying hard to hide her face as she cried. Gina did about the only thing, she hugged her closely, rubbing her back. “Come on... I'll make you some hot cocoa at my house... okay?”

Alice didn't seem to trust her voice, instead simply nodding quietly as she fell into step behind Gina. Gina for her part was feeling awful about having made her new friend cry so callously in her opinion. She had to do something to make it better, but she couldn't figure out what that could possibly be. She just hoped that the cocoa would help a little, or that they could have some fun tonight. She had originally thought that she'd not wear the outfit tonight, but if it made Alice feel better, it was possible for her to wear it.

After all, the more she thought about it, the more she thought that Alice might have been right. She could look alright in it, and there was some feeling that she felt building in her gut that she'd even enjoy it.

The trip home was quiet, awkward, and Gina desperately wished that Marie had been there, as the little girl never seemed to struggle talking with someone. Mrs. Adams had seemed to sense a need to stay out of their affairs. Alice for her part, wished she'd never had mentioned her parents, but Gina'd brought it up innocently. She didn't need to suffer for her own foolishness. After they'd been dropped off, and as other girl was unlocking the main doors, Alice spoke up finally.

“Gina, after… all you’ve done for me, I want to get something off my chest,” Alice admitted, shuffling on one foot, “My father… He isn’t at work. Let’s just say… He’s the reason Mom’s in hospital,”

Gina froze with her hand on the doorknob, staring at it as the emotional bomb had been dropped on her. She needed to say something, anything to make this less awkward. She was thankful Haley wasn’t here. She’d be figuring out how long her father would be ‘at work’ before Gina could stop her...

“You didn't have to tell me Alice... it's.... it's not something I should have stuck my nose in... but let's go see how silly I look in that outfit, hmm? I'll make the cocoa before the… the fashion show...”

Once they opened the door, a faint humming sound filled their ears. Alice watched as one minute Gina was opening the door for her, and the next she was running down the main hall, and into a room off to the left. “HALEY!” was the echoing cry that she heard just as she closed the door.

She joined the obviously excited girl that had been extremely shy and reserved the entire time since she'd met her. She guessed the woman with articulated joints being hugged by Gina was the H.A.L.I. robotic maid she'd mentioned earlier, and what surprised her most was the bright pink hair on her head. She didn't remember the model line ever offering that option, and there were clear signs that some of the repairs were not done by qualified tech teams in a clean room.

“You're done early... nothing's wrong is it? Is your battery charging alright? Are your servo joints holding out alright? You're not pushing yourself are you?” Gina gabbled, completely different to how she’d been at school, studying parts of the ‘older’ girl. The droid actually seemed to have an easy time keeping up with the worried and fretting Gina, carefully avoiding whacking her with the vacuum attachment that protruded from her left hip. It was a full five minutes of questions along these lines before the robot finally spoke.

“Who is your friend, Miss Gina?” The HALI asked.

“Miss... I told you just to call me Gina when we're al... oh! Alice...” Gina answered as light dawned on her. She seemed ready to bolt back to the front doors where she'd left her schoolmate, only to find the athletic girl waiting there with a bemused smile. “I... I'm so sorry A...Alice... I didn't mean to forget about you... It's just... I thought Haley here needed another day of charging... and... well... she is my...”

Alice watched as Gina struggled to find a word to explain the relationship she had with the android. There was more than just the usual attachment to a long term robot turned pet. She now understood what Gina had meant. There was a family type bond between the two of them. “Alice Smith... pleased to meet you... I hope you don't mind, but I've always wanted to meet a H.A.L.I. model droid...”

“Haley, and it's a pleasure to feel appreciated. I'm sad to say I'm not a factory direct model,” Haley explained calmly with a small pleased smile to her face. “We-we-we-we-we have issues with getting re-re-re-replacement parts...”

“Oh no, I was sure I got that fixed last time,” Gina stated, turning to Haley again, rolling up her arms, ready to fix it, “Your voice modulator is loose, and I still am not pleased with that chip housing...”

Gina's motions to pull Haley into the other room were blocked rather dramatically by the vacuum attachment coming up to press against her chest lightly. “No-no-not now, te-te-te-tend to your gu-gu-guest.”

“But... you... I...” Gina seemed torn, she wanted to be polite to Alice, but Haley needed her right now. She had promised to make Alice some hot cocoa, and she was in a tough spot already, so she shouldn't be putting her off like this... but Haley was family...

“How about we have our cocoa while you work on her voice modulator... I'm kinda curious to see how you’ll do...” Alice admited while nodding towards Haley. “That is if she doesn't mind...”

“I-I-I-I do n-n-n-not, but y-y-you might...” Haley answered before waving them off to the kitchen. “I-I-I-I will be-e-e-e in the la-a-a-ab.”

“I...If you're sure Haley...” Gina answered quietly, her eyes full of worry over what she considered the only true family she had left. “We'll be there in about fifteen minutes, go ahead and hook up to the systems so I can interface with the module and you can still talk... well text...”

Haley's only signal of hearing her was to nod and walk out, holding the attachment up to her shoulder in a way that had Alice thinking of the army with their rifles. She held back her laughter, and instead settled on watching the concern filled face of Gina as she worried her lower lip until Haley had disappeared from view. This was something no one at school, and likely anyone one at all, had seen before. The reclusive bookworm fussing like a mother hen over her robot. It was rather endearing.

And she knew that this was something she wanted to keep secret forever more. She wanted this to be her personal memory, nothing more, nothing else. But she couldn't help but wonder what it was like to have someone so intent on your well being. True she'd had her parents when she was younger, but then her dad lost his job... after that, he got drinking… and then… Damn NRA. Her mother was lucky to only end up on life support.

Her aunt had so wonderfully taken her in, despite being busy with her job as some business executive's personal international spokeswoman/company face. It just wasn't the same as it had been with her parents. Even as they walked to the kitchen, Alice found her wanting more than just to have someone like Gina fussing over her, she wanted Gina. There was something about the girl that sung out like an angelic choir to capture the athlete's attention, but she couldn't quite place it.

It had started shortly after Gina had tried to reassure her she was fine after the soccer ball accident earlier that day, and throughout the day it just grew and developed. She wanted to know more about this fascinating young woman that had become her friend, a first for the girl it seemed, and yet she was willing to bow into the background for Alice's reputation and happiness. When she’d seen her fussing over Haley, she had seen a side of Gina that she wanted to have for herself. She could possibly share it with Haley, but no-one else.

No, she wasn't going to let this one go, not after she'd intrigued her so much already. And besides, she really wanted to see her in that outfit, the athlete could tell she wanted to try it out. There was just this sparkling light every time she looked at the chains covered clothing, or that choker she now wore. Leaning against a counter she watched as Gina began mixing the hot cocoa from scratch. That surprised Alice, as she'd always had the premixed stuff. There was more under the surface of this Gina Carlton than anyone at school could have guessed, save maybe that teacher of hers.

She had been the one to let Gina take a sneak peek at the box of goodies, even extending it to Alice. Although, somehow, she thought that maybe Alice was there to _ensure_ she took what she did out of the box. But why would the teacher have a pre-arranged set of Sweet Berry items. She glanced at something on her phone and raised an eyebrow. While there was the matching boots for sale, Berry’s message on it was that ‘I haven’t given out any of these for ages, but I had a set right at the back...’, with the last date of distribution being way back in the early 20’s.

“Do you want whipped cream or marshmallows?” Gina asked, breaking the silence that had grown like an ivy veil between the two. It came so suddenly that the blonde had to get it repeated. “Whipped cream or marshmallows?”

Oh yeah, people put that in their hot chocolate sometimes, she'd never tried it since the hot cocoa was always in the pouches and her aunt didn't let her have much in the way of sweets. “Uhh... cream I guess...”

Gina smiled and nodded for a moment before turning back to the stove and stirring the mixture inside once more. She then walked over and grabbed two items from the fridge. The first was a half-gallon of milk, the other curiously enough was a silver mixing bowl. With practiced ease the milk was added to the fairly dark mixture in the pot, quickly turning it the smooth, soft brown color she was used to. So much like Gina's eyes, which was another thing that she was fairly sure she was on the short list of people that saw them.

She almost wanted to have Gina wear a pair of sunglasses with the outfit, just so she could keep the brunette's creamy chocolate eyes to herself. Hey, she'd always been a selfish kid... this was just part of it, in her mind. Gina had just poured out the two cups of cocoa when Alice spoke. “Why do you wear glasses Gina?”

It was interesting to watch the blush slowly spread over the girl's cheeks, painting its way slowly over her ears as well. She turned away from Alice's curious gaze, presumably to place the now empty pot in the sink and fill it with water. But Alice could see the way the internal battle played out via Gina's taut shoulders, and bowed head. When the bespectacled girl returned her attention to the mugs of cocoa she was speaking. “My... my older brother... he...he always w...wore glasses... a...and m...my parents praised him... T...they wore them too.... b...but I... I always h...had perfect eyesight...”

The mystery of the silver bowl was revealed as Gina took two heaping scoops of whipped cream, (homemade whipped cream too?!) and placed the dollops on top of the steaming brown mix, letting it settle there while she replaced the bowl in the fridge. It seemed Gina had a bit of a sweet tooth, if she kept whipped cream like that handy.

“O...One day I... I found an... an old pair... they were missing the lenses so... so I... I tried them on...” Gina continued, her eyes downcast, and voice so quiet and shy, Alice was having trouble hearing a mere two feet away. “I... I thought... th...that I'd fit in... b...but they d...didn't notice... M....Marie w....was a one y...year old then... s...she giggled and clapped when I... I wore glasses... it.... it just felt right...”

Huh... so that was the reason, she felt right in glasses. It wasn't that they didn't look good on her, but they hid those wonderful, mysterious, delicious chocolate eyes from Alice, and she didn't want her friend hiding like that. Slowly she sipped her cocoa, and thought about things. Maybe she wasn't right to force the outfit change on her. It seemed that Gina had enough on her plate without a friend that tried to change her from the start. But this was what girls were supposed to do right? Hang out, and try on clothes, and gossip, and eat junk food... right? That's what they always showed on those girly movies, silly sitcoms, magazines, books...

Right now she cursed being the only girl her age in her family, and being a tomboy on top of that. She had no idea what to do when trying to find out more about this strange feeling that burned in her chest as she observed the shy girl before her. “I... I think you look great either way Gina... Y... your eyes are really pretty... and... well I guess the glasses fit you...”

Alice watched as Gina's cheeks reddened again, and her hands played nervously with her mug. Alice wondered just how often the poor girl got compliments if she was this flustered over it. “H...hey if you just wanna hang out... instead of trying on that outfit... I mean it was rude of me to force you like that, and well I don't want to be rude...”

“I... I... I think that it would be f...fun...” Gina answered while picking up her mug and walking along. “W...we can hang out.... D...do you have to be somewhere, or would you like staying for supper?”

“I don't want to impose...” Alice answered, as she hid her face behind her mug, sipping slowly. Her eyes bugged as she tasted the rich chocolate and the sweetness of the cream. Oh, the delicious flavor tenderly caressing her tongue, how could she have possible lived this long without having this before? Oh she could get used to this drink, it was just so wonderfully delightful, and she could just savour it forever more.

For some reason, she pictured having Gina curled up on a couch next to her, the two of them sipping the cocoa while watching a fire burning happily in a fireplace, Haley keeping watch over them… and wished she could have that for the rest of her life...


	4. The Sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we have the more interesting parts. I wish to state that, partway down this chapter is a segment which is embarrassingly political. Namely because I didn’t expect something like what happened in contemporary America to actually happen.  
I will admit, with several other things in general, with Sweet Berry…  
I just blinked, wondered how that got predicted, and leave it at that. Firmly.
> 
> I also wish to make something clear. Gina’s story, and the prologue chapters, occur in a near-modern version of America, with the specific state not really given. It wouldn’t change anything even if it was.

**Chapter 4: The Sleepover**

Gina's arrival was almost a surprise to both human and robot alike, however one had sensors and the other knew ironic timing when it was staring them in the face. “H...hi...” Gina greeted while rubbing her sweatsuit coated arms. “I... I hope you don't mind me being casual...”

“No! Of course not...” Alice exclaimed before blushing herself. “I mean it's your house, and I'm the one that's intruding and...”

Haley blinked as a ringing cut Alice off, the almost relieved look to her face told the robot that she had no clue how to say it without getting into increasingly awkward territory. The athletic girl took the phone into the main hall, and Gina just started working on making supper. There was something off about what Haley could overhear. “Hey Auntie...”

“W...what? I'm at a friend's... but we were supposed...” Alice started, before suddenly stopping and Haley could almost sense her slumping in defeat over something, “Her parents are out... b...but her older sister is here...”

“I can't ask them... No she doesn't have her license... I see... I... I'll ask...” Alice offered reluctantly, before she leaned into the kitchen to look straight at Haley, “Umm... Haley? My aunt wants to ask if you two would mind putting up with me overnight? She's... she got a last minute business trip and hasn't given me a key to the apartment... she'll drop off some clothes and stuff for me...”

Haley blinked as she realized just what was being asked of her. She would have to lie about being being Gina's…

Well, No, thinking about it, that was fairly honest, as they were sisters in all way but blood... and relative species. So, It would not be a lie for her to say it was alright that the girl stayed over night. It would be a new experience for Lady Gina and she should be allowed to experience such. Possibly a way to win over Gina's graces a bit more. But that was a selfish, illogical reason. A quick glance to the hopeful look on Gina's face, though she hid it well, told her all she needed to know. A warm smile spread over her face as she nodded her head and turned to grab some spices for dinner.

Her answer was simple. “Tell her we'd be glad to have you... and our address...”

Gina couldn't believe it, she actually had a friend that was staying over the night, and not only that, but it had been Haley that had made it possible. She thought that H.A.L.I. model robots couldn't lie like that, but she had done it through omission very easily. Her parents weren't home, not like that was anything new or anything, they were just busy. And while Haley was a wonderful guardian and helper robot, she wasn't _quite_ authorized to monitor other people like she was with Gina...

Even better, her first friend had plenty of ideas for what they could do for the night. Alice's aunt would be over in a little under an hour, and she'd be bringing a swimsuit over so they could use the pool. It never felt right going swimming by herself, because Haley's waterproofing, another issue in a list of them she had with Haley’s state of repair, wasn't up to the challenge, but she had managed to get her miniature backup body protected enough that she could use a floating ring to join in the fun. And she had even consented to joining in!

She was so glad that her ‘sister’ and friend were getting along so well. Sadly there was one thing that she wasn't certain if she could trust Alice with. There was a midnight showing of the latest Sweet Berry story playing on the online streaming site tonight, and she didn’t think Alice would be a fan of such a childish show. This wasn’t like that old show from the 10’s.

After swimming, there was talk of playing games, relaxing over more hot chocolate, and staying up late. That was somewhat vetoed with the reminder that they had class tomorrow, and that they'd have to go to bed on time if they were going to be well rested. This gave Gina the chance to catch her midnight showing without putting too much pressure on Alice, especially if she didn’t want to stay up for it, but she already had plans to deal with her tiredness in school tomorrow.

After all, if they hadn't expected people to sleep during History class, they needed to hire a teacher that didn't join them in napping during the movies. And they had a special documentary tomorrow on the career of some president during the early twenty-first century. She didn't care if he led to an economic resurgence of the nation, due to applying corporate logic to politics, or that his policies helped to break the nation of their bipartisan political system, purely since they both wanted to get him out of office before he did something really stupid.

He was still just an old guy that wore bad suits, was dissed by over half of the people who voted for him, and screwed up some major things for the future. Besides, it wasn't until when the first female president arrived on scene that the nation really kicked off again. So the old guys were really just boring screw ups that make for good napping fodder.

Polishing off the last of her broccoli she smiled warmly again at the thought of having a friend sleeping over. Looking up, she found that Alice and Haley were in the middle of a rather animated conversation. It was nice to see the two people she felt she could rely on getting along so well. After all, they could all be good friends, maybe even True Friends like Sweet Berry talked about...

Now it was time for the most important part of the meal, and she knew exactly what would be great to go with what they'd had.

“Ex...excuse me... I'll be right back...” Gina spoke up quietly, heading towards the kitchen. Opening the freezer, she reached in and pulled out an ice cream cake she had made last week. It was a lot of chocolate layered upon more chocolate. She could only hope that Alice wouldn't find it too sweet and rich of a dessert. Maybe she shouldn't have added the chocolate sprinkles, whipped cream, or strawberry sauce on top, but she thought the design looked nice, and she'd worked so hard on making it just right. She knew that she couldn't draw that well, but when it came to cooking she could do wonders.

Pulling out a spatula, she smiled and carried out the cake to the dining table. Originally she had thought about saving it for after she perfected Haley's energy converter unit, but this was just as important, and besides, she thought that Haley would prefer brownies with frosting and cherries. Arriving back at the table, she found that Haley and Alice were smiling brightly at her. It was so nice to see them getting along so well. After all, they were wonderful people that had accepted her, even when her family had abandoned her.

“I h...hope you don't mind ice cream cake...” Gina offered quietly as she set it down on the table quietly. Alice's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the sweet food, and a light sheen of sweat beading her forehead made it look like she was so very eager for dessert. “I made it myself, so I hope it's good...”

Alice swallowed eagerly as pushed her plate back a little. “I...It looks great Gina. Really it does, but I think a short break would be better. It would make us appreciate it more...” She offered.

“Y... you think so?” Gina asked nervously, as she looked at the cake before her. It made sense that letting the first part of dinner digest before having dessert. Maybe after some swimming they'd be even hungrier and ready for the dessert. “I... I suppose so...”

Gathering the dishes, they went into the kitchen and loaded up the dishwasher. Gina slipped the cake back into the freezer, with a slight frown on her face. She couldn't place why, but it felt like she wasn't going to see that cake again. Which she knew was a little silly, but she still felt a longing for the sweet dessert she had created. She was just about to go find something to do, when a dinging noise filled the air. Someone was at the front door.

Haley and Alice left to go find out who it was, while Gina closed the freezer quietly, before she walked over to the doorway to the main hallway and saw the woman that she expected was Alice's aunt, since she looked similar to Alice and was handing over a duffel-bag with a smile that could only come from one of Alice's relatives.

“... And I remembered to pack your pink bunny Ms. Flopsy-kins, so you don't have to worry about not being able to sleep tonight,” Alice's aunt stated with a bliss-filled warm smile while hugging her niece. “And I packed your blankie and your special und-mmf!”

Alice had stopped her aunt using the only thing she could think of, which was a hand over the older woman's mouth. “Thank you Auntie, I'm sure you remembered everything... I hope that you have a good trip...” She declared, her face red with mortification.

“You don't have to rush off your aunt, why doesn't she stay for some coffee Alice?” Haley offered with such a warm and large smile that Gina didn’t quite notice her eyes were closed since she was full of mirth over the incident. Gina loved that Haley was being so thoughtful to the aunt.

“Oh, I'm sorry but I just can't, I have to hurry to the airport and catch my flight... maybe another time Haley, and thank you for letting Alice stay. I've worried about her staying alone since her mother went into the hospital... Who knows what could happen to the poor dear?” the aunt asked before hugging her niece again, “Now you be good, and mind your elders. And if you get scared, you have my number. And don't worry about wetting the bed, it's perfectly natural... I think...”

“AUNTIE!” Alice protested with a furious blush to her cheeks. “I told you it wasn't that...”

Haley mentally smirked. Oh, she really liked Alice’s aunt. Just the right level of embarrassment, and so much data. “Of course dear, of course... be good...” the aunt stated before walking towards the waiting cab.

Once the car was out of sight, Haley turned to look at the blushing blonde with a huge grin on her face. “So she thinks...”

“I'm five years old at times... and that was-” Alice started explaining before spotting Gina watching and cutting herself off with an even deeper blush, “It wasn't what she thought it was...”

“Then wha... oh... aren't you a little young for that?” Haley asked, catching Gina's attention. After a couple seconds of a silent stare-off, she decided to cut in.

“S...since her swimsuit is here... how about we change and go swimming?” she offered quietly, breaking the tension between the pair.

The three people broke up and went their separate ways, Alice going to the bathroom, while Gina went to her bedroom, followed by Haley as far as the lab. Gina opened her drawer and pulled out her purple one piece, wondering if it was too showy for in front of someone. Pulling it on, she realized that she'd grown a little bit since the last time she'd worn it and blushed at just how tight it was cutting into her body. Maybe she should swim a bit more often...

At the very least she would have known her swimsuit was at least a size too small. At the best, she would have been able to still fit into the suit if she exercised more. The idea to skip desserts never occurred to her once. That would have been sacrilege. She was a maestro with her sweets, and to skip them would never happen.

Pausing at the door to the lab, she reached up and touched her glasses quietly. She had no problem walking to the pool without them, but it was also her comfort item. She also knew that she couldn't swim with them on, so she had to take them off, but it was still intimidating to think of being exposed like that. Gulping nervously she closed her eyes and slowly pulled the glasses off, exposing her eyes to the elements.

Putting them on a dresser, she walked out of her room into the lab. Finding Haley missing from there, she figured her robotic sister had gone ahead to the pool without her. On her way to the pool, she snatched a few of the larger towels from the closet. Finally she arrived at the pool, and smiled as she found the others sitting by the pool with their feet splashing in the water. The foot tall version of Haley was just so cute, especially wearing the little floaty ring. She couldn't help but smile at the image.

“Oh Haley, you look so cute in your little outfit... I'm so glad it works,” Gina gushed, before rushing over to hug the miniaturized version of her sister. Such a precious little darling in her tiny green swimsuit. Looking up, she found something that distracted her from the little cutie in her arms, “A...Alice?”

The blonde looked up, wearing a bikini that her aunt had obviously packed for her, if not bought special for the girl. Judging by the heavy blush on her cheeks, Alice obviously didn't like the Sweet Berry bikini she was wearing. Especially with how she was avoiding Gina's eyes.

“It... it looks good on you...” Gina attempted weakly, even if she thought it was true, it just came off as insincere with how embarrassed the girl looked.

Blushing herself, she turned away and stepped into the water, holding Haley carefully as she made sure the floaty would support the robotic body. After a few minutes, she released the former doll and smiled as she kicked in tiny circles around Gina. Laughing lightly she tugged on the back of the tube, getting an indignant squeak out of the tiny droid. It was such an adorable sight she couldn't help but start giggling at it. A soft splashing noise caught her attention as Alice slipped into the water and made her way over towards the pair. She had a playful smile on her face, and about two steps out Gina found out why.

A slash of the athlete's arm later and Gina was soaked head to toe. It seemed only fair to return the favor, so the while the blonde was laughing at Gina, she suddenly found her mouth filled with chlorinated water. It seemed that Haley approved as she leaned back in her floaty and giggled loudly. After that any noise she made was lost in a was of splashing and laughter from the two bigger girls. Gina barely had time to spot Haley puttering about at the far end of the pool between waves.

Before too much longer, the girls tired of the splash-off, and decided to float for a little while. “Were you serious earlier? About looking good in this suit?” Alice asked, “It’s just that...”

“Y...yeah... I mean you have the body for it... and well... I... I uh... kinda like that show... and...” Gina started, until she bumped into Alice and looked over with a heavy blush on her cheeks, “Please don't tell anyone... I know it's more for younger kids... but it... it's funny for people our age and...”

“According to Berry, it’s for all ages, and considering Berry isn’t much older than us, I think it’s more meant for our age group. Anyway, I heard there's a movie being released tonight,” Alice mused quietly while floating away from Gina slightly, “I was going to rent it... until the sleepover came up...”

“O...oh... I... I suppose we could, watch together...” Gina offered nervously before standing up in the waist deep water.

Alice smiled as she joined the brunette in standing, before before stretching out her arms casually. “Do you want to swim a few laps? We could take a nap, get up and watch the movie with cake, and then go to bed...”

“Y...yeah... that sounds good...” Gina answered, feeling slightly disappointed that her delicious cake would be put off for so long, but it would be a wonderful thing to do. She hadn't done anything like that since she woke up early on Saturdays to watch these old cartoons from back in the 1980's that were up on a place called Nostalgia-net. They were a lot better than most of the cartoons being released, especially any of the ones that had the same name. It was a rare thing when they came out better.

While she began a casual paced front crawl to the end of the pool, she let her mind wander to back then, when she had to hunt online for good cartoons to watch. Stupid international broadcast restrictions on new material, it made everything so sanitized and squeaky clean it was sickening. Even if there were series that bent the rules by being purely online, it meant that anything on the television was squeaky clean.

Despite the sanitizing that it had to receive before even getting close to being put onto the schedules, Sweet Berry had wormed it's way into her heart with its awesome theme music, and the female lead that always seemed to have something more to show than was ever brought up in the series. A few minutes online turned up a forum posting that promised that there was more, and that one only had to look closely enough to see the hints at the truth.

She barely remembered when she met a girl on the forums. She barely posted anything, and when she did she always had a vague teasing tone to her posts. Gina wanted to know more about her and the show after that. Sadly nothing ever came from the form she filled out and sent to the website those five years ago. It wasn't that she had expected much, but there hadn't even been so much as an automated response thanking her for her submission. Haley had only approved of her filling out the form, since the most personal information it asked for was a screen name and her current age.

She couldn't even remember what she'd put on the form, but it had a lot of questions about what she liked; things like animals, movie types, colors, and robot models. Dragons, comedies, maroon, and H.A.L.I. respectively, thank you. Pushing off the end of the pool, she continued her lap wondering if she shouldn't try to track down that post again and see if she couldn't retake the form. It might be fun to see what Alice thought of it, and maybe have Haley take it again where she could see her doing it.

Her mind was diverted by a near-miss with said droid that had accidentally kicked her way into the lane, and was struggling mightily to get back out of it. Instead of returning to her original thoughts, she focused on swimming her laps, keeping a careful eye on where Haley was drifting along. Three full laps later, and she pulled off to float next to Haley, instead watching as Alice cut through the water. For the first time thankful that no one else was here, she allowed herself a chance to really look over her friend's form. She'd already known her friend had an athletic trim, having seen her name on a the lists for a lot of the sports teams.

But to see her while she was gliding through the water was another thing entirely. The way the water seemed to ripple off her body, with splashes of light dancing across her form, it almost seemed like one of those legends from ancient world history class. Sure she felt guilty checking out her friend secretively like this, but she didn't know how her friend would react. In the stories, cartoons, and other media she'd checked out, it was one of two ways. The first was that she would hate Gina for all eternity.

The second was that they'd kiss and wind up sleeping together in the first night. Maybe she should ask Haley to reinstate those parental blocks...

But even with her limited experience with other people, she knew that there was a myriad of gray shades that this could fall under. They could still be friends, they could part ways amicably, it could just be a phase she was going through, or anything in between the two polar ends of the spectrum. She just couldn't risk it yet... not after finally finding a friend that she could be herself with. But maybe it was too early to tell her about that aspect of herself... she really didn't want to scare her off.

But that could wait until after the movie tonight, for now she should get back to swimming. Then there would be cake. She was sure of it. Cake, then popcorn, then sleepy cuddling after the movie...

That’s what friends did, right? Well, it’s how Berry watched movies, cuddled up with a good friend...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note, the show Gina mentions from the 10's is Friendship Is Magic. Within this universe, the same expanded fandom happened with Sweet Berry. It's referenced due to the fact it was one of the few times a fandom _did_ expand way beyond the expected viewers.


	5. Having Your Cake...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we have the more interesting parts. I wish to state that, partway down this chapter is a segment which is embarrassingly political. Namely because I didn’t expect something like what happened in contemporary America to actually happen.  
And several other things in general with Sweet Berry… I just blinked, wondered how that got predicted, and leave it at that. Firmly.  
I also wish to make something clear. Gina’s story occurs in a near-modern version of America, with the specific state and year not really given. It wouldn’t change anything even if it was.

Gina's arrival was almost a surprise to both human and robot alike, however the one had sensors, and the other knew ironic timing when it was staring them in the face.

“H...hi...” Gina greeted while rubbing her sweatsuit coated arms. “I... I hope you don't mind me being casual...”

“No! Of course not...” Alice exclaimed before blushing herself. “I mean it's your house, and I'm the one that's intruding and...”

Haley blinked as a ringing cut Alice off, the almost relieved look to her face told the robot that she had no clue how to say it without getting into increasingly awkward territory. The athletic girl took the phone into the main hall, and Gina just started working on making supper. There was something off about what Haley could overhear.

“Hey Auntie… W...what? I'm at a friend's... but we were supposed...” Alice started, before suddenly stopping and Haley could almost sense her slumping in defeat over something. “Her parents are out... b...but her older sister is here...”

“I can't ask them... No she doesn't have her license... I see... I... I'll ask...” Alice allowed reluctantly as she leaned into the kitchen to look straight at Haley. “Umm... Haley? My aunt wants to ask if you two would mind putting up with me overnight? She's... she got a last minute business trip and hasn't given me a key to the apartment... she'll drop off some clothes and stuff for me...”

Haley blinked as she realized just what was being asked of her. She would have to lie about being being Gina's... well no that was fairly honest, as they were sisters in all way but blood... and relative species. So she would lie about it being alright that the girl stayed over night... save it would be a new experience for Lady Gina and she should be allowed to experience such. Possibly a way to win over Gina's graces a bit more, and dig up more data on the usurper.

But those were all selfish, illogical reasons. A quick glance to the hopeful look on Gina's face, though she hid it well, told her all she needed to know. A warm smile spread over her face as she nodded her head and turned to grab some spices for dinner. Her answer was simple.

“Tell her we'd be glad to have you... and our address...”

Gina couldn't believe it, she actually had a friend that was staying over the night, and not only that, but it had been Haley that had made it possible. She thought that H.A.L.I. model robots couldn't lie like that, but she had done it through omission very easily. Her parents weren't home, not like that was anything new or anything, they were just busy. And while Haley was a wonderful guardian and helper robot, she wasn't quite authorized to monitor other people like she was with Gina...

Even better, her first friend had plenty of ideas for what they could do for the night. Alice's aunt would be over in a little under an hour, and she'd be bringing a swimsuit over so they could use the pool. It never felt right going swimming by herself, because Haley's waterproofing wasn't up to the challenge. As a result, she had managed to get a miniature version protected enough that she could use a floating ring to join in the fun. And Haley had even consented to joining in!

She was so glad that her sister and friend were getting along so well. Sadly there was one thing that she wasn't certain if she could trust Alice with. There was a midnight showing of the latest Sweet Berry movie playing on the online theaters tonight, and she didn't know if Alice would make fun of her liking such a childish show. After swimming, there was talk of playing games, relaxing over more hot chocolate, and staying up late. That was somewhat vetoed with the reminder that they had class tomorrow, and that they'd have to go to bed on time if they were going to be well rested.

This gave Gina the chance to catch her midnight showing without putting too much pressure on Alice, but she already had plans to deal with her tiredness in school tomorrow. After all, if they hadn't expected people to sleep during History class, they needed to hire a teacher that didn't join them in napping during the movies. And they had a special documentary tomorrow on the career of some president during the early part of the century. She didn't care if he led to an economic resurgence of the nation, or that his policies helped to break the nation of their bipartisan political system.

He was still just an old guy that wore bad suits, was hated by over half of the people who voted for him, which was why bipartisan politics went downhill, and screwed up some major things for the future. Besides, it wasn't until when the first female president arrived on scene that the nation really kicked off again. So the old guys were really just boring screw ups that make for good napping fodder.

Polishing off the last of her broccoli she smiled warmly again at the thought of having a friend sleeping over. Looking up, she found that Alice and Haley were in the middle of a rather animated conversation. It was nice to see the two people she felt she could rely on getting along so well. After all, they could all be good friends, maybe even True Friends like Sweet Berry talked about, but enough about that, it was time for the most important part of the meal, and she knew exactly what would be great to go with what they'd had.

“Ex...excuse me... I'll be right back...” Gina spoke up quietly, heading towards the kitchen. Opening the freezer, she reached in and pulled out an ice cream cake she had made last week. It was a lot of chocolate layered upon more chocolate. She could only hope that Alice wouldn't find it too sweet and rich of a dessert. Maybe she shouldn't have added the chocolate sprinkles, whipped cream, or strawberry sauce on top, but she thought the design looked nice, and she'd worked so hard on making it just right. She knew that she couldn't draw that well, but when it came to cooking she could do wonders.

Pulling out a spatula, she smiled and carried out the cake to the dining table. Originally she had thought about saving it for after she perfected Haley's energy converter unit, but this was just as important... and besides, she thought that Haley would prefer brownies with frosting and cherries. Arriving back at the table, she found that Haley and Alice were smiling brightly at her. It was so nice to see them getting along so well. After all, they were wonderful people that had accepted her, even when her family had abandoned her.

“I h...hope you don't mind ice cream cake...” Gina offered quietly as she set it down on the table quietly. Alice's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the sweet food, and a light sheen of sweat beading her forehead made it look like she was so very eager for dessert. “I made it myself, so I hope it's good...”

Alice swallowed eagerly as pushed her plate back a little. “I...It looks great Gina. Really it does, but I think a short break would be better. It would make us appreciate it more...”

“Y... you think so?” Gina asked nervously, as she looked at the cake before her. It makes sense that letting the first part of dinner digest before having dessert. Maybe after some swimming they'd be even hungrier and ready for the dessert. “I... I suppose so...”

“Also, something like that, such a short time before swimming...” Haley began, and Gina sighed. Gathering the dishes, they went into the kitchen and loaded up the dishwasher. Gina slipped the cake back into the freezer, with a slight frown on her face. She couldn't place why, but it felt like she wasn't going to see that cake again. Which she knew was a little silly, but she still felt a longing for the sweet dessert she had created. She was just about to go find something to do, when a dinging noise filled the air. Someone was at the front door.

Haley and Alice left to go find out who it was, while Gina closed the freezer quietly and walked over to the doorway to the main hallway, and saw the woman that she guessed was Alice's aunt. Maybe it was that she looked similar to Alice and was handing over a duffel-bag with a smile that could only come from one of Alice's relatives.

“... And I remembered to pack your pink bunny Ms. Flopsi-kins, so you don't have to worry about not being able to sleep tonight,” Alice's aunt stated with a bliss-filled warm smile while hugging her neice. “And I packed your blankie and your special und-mmf!”

Alice had stopped her aunt using the only thing she could think of, which was a hand over the older woman's mouth. “Thank you Auntie, I'm sure you remembered everything... I hope that you have a good trip...” She stated through clenched teeth.

“You don't have to rush off your aunt, why doesn't she stay for some coffee Alice?” Haley offered with such a warm and large smile that her eyes closed with mirth. Gina loved that Haley was being so thoughtful to the aunt.

“Oh, I'm sorry but I just can't, I have to hurry to the airport and catch my flight... maybe another time Haley, and thank you for letting Alice stay. I've worried about her staying alone since her mother went into the hospital... Who knows what could happen to the poor dear?” the aunt asked before hugging her niece again. “Now you be good, and mind your elders. And if you get scared, you have my number. And don't worry about wetting the bed, it's perfectly natural... I think...”

“AUNTIE!” Alice protested with a furious blush to her cheeks. “I told you it wasn't that...”

“Of course dear, of course... be good...” the aunt stated before walking towards the waiting cab.

Once the car was out of sight, Haley turned to look at the blushing blonde with a huge grin on her face. “So she thinks...”

“I'm five years old at times... and that was-” Alice started explaining before spotting Gina watching and cutting herself off with a even deeper blush. “It wasn't what she thought it was...”

“Then wha... oh... aren't you a little young for that?” Haley asked, catching Gina's attention. After a couple seconds of a silent stare-off, she decided to cut in.

“S...since her swimsuit is here... how about we change and go swimming?” she offered quietly, breaking the tension between the pair.

The three people broke up and went their separate ways, Alice going to the bathroom, while Gina went to her bedroom, followed by Haley as far as the lab. Gina opened her drawer and pulled out her purple one piece, wondering if it was too showy for in front of someone. Pulling it on, she realized that she'd grown a little bit since the last time she'd worn it and blushed at just how tight it was cutting into her body. Maybe she should swim a bit more often...

At the very least she would have known her swimsuit was at least a size too small. At the best, she would have been able to still fit into the suit if she exercised more. The idea to skip desserts never occurred to her once. That would have been sacrilege. Pausing at the door to the lab, she reached up and touched her glasses quietly. She had no problem walking to the pool without them, but it was also her comfort item. She also knew that she couldn't swim with them on, so she had to take them off, but it was still intimidating to think of being exposed like that.

Gulping nervously she closed her eyes and slowly pulled the glasses off, exposing her eyes to the elements. Putting them on a dresser, she walked out of her room into the lab. Finding Haley missing from there, she figured her robotic sister had gone ahead to the pool without her. On her way to the pool, she snatched a few of the larger towels from the closet. Finally she arrived at the pool, and smiled as she found the others sitting by the pool with their feet splashing in the water. The foot tall version of Haley was just so cute, especially wearing the little floaty ring, so she couldn't help but smile.

“Oh Haley, you look so cute in your little outfit... I'm so glad it works,” Gina gushed, before rushing over to hug the miniaturized version of her sister. Such a precious little darling in her tiny green swimsuit. Looking up, she found something that distracted her from the little cutie in her arms, “A...Alice?”

The blonde looked up, wearing a bikini that her aunt had obviously packed for her, if not bought special for the girl. Judging by the heavy blush on her cheeks, Alice obviously didn't like the Sweet Berry bikini she was wearing. Especially with how she was avoiding Gina's eyes.

“It... it looks good on you...” Gina attempted weakly, even if she thought it was true, it just came off as insincere with how embarrassed the girl looked.

Blushing herself, she turned away and stepped into the water, holding Haley carefully as she made sure the floaty would support the robotic body. After a few minutes, she released the former doll and smiled as she kicked in tiny circles around Gina. Laughing lightly she tugged on the back of the tube, getting an indignant squeak out of the tiny droid. It was such an adorable sight she couldn't help but start giggling at it. A soft splashing noise caught her attention as Alice slipped into the water and made her way over towards the pair. She had a playful smile on her face, and about two steps out Gina found out why. A slash of the athlete's arm later and Gina was soaked head to toe. It seemed only fair to return the favor, so the while the blonde was laughing at Gina, she suddenly found her mouth filled with chlorinated water.

It seemed that Haley approved as she leaned back in her floaty and giggled loudly. After that any noise she made was lost in a was of splashing and laughter from the two bigger girls. Gina barely had time to spot Haley puttering about at the far end of the pool between waves. Before too much longer, the girls tired of the splash-off, and decided to float for a little while.

“Were you serious earlier? About looking good in this suit?” Alice asked, somewhat hesitantly.

“Y...yeah... I mean you have the body for it... and well... I... I uh... kinda like that show... and...” Gina started, until she bumped into Alice and looked over with a heavy blush on her cheeks, “Please don't tell anyone... I know it's more for younger kids...”

“Yes, and ponies are for little girls as well, but it’s still the most downloaded show ever. I heard there's a movie being released tonight,” Alice mused quietly while floating away from Gina slightly, “I was going to rent it... until the sleepover came up...”

“O...oh... I... I suppose we could, watch together...” Gina offered nervously before standing up in the waist deep water. Alice smiled as she joined the brunette in standing, before before stretching out her arms casually.

“Do you want to swim a few laps? We could take a nap, get up and watch the movie with cake, and then go to bed...” Alice offered, “I’m sure Haley would accept that...”

“Y...yeah... that sounds good...” Gina answered, feeling slightly disappointed that her delicious cake would be put off for so long, but it would be a wonderful thing to do. She hadn't done anything like that since she woke up early on Saturdays to watch the old cartoons from back in the previous century that were up on a place called Nostalgia-net. They were a lot better than most of the cartoons being released, especially those with the same names, in most cases anyway. While she began a casual paced front crawl to the end of the pool, she let her mind wander to back then, when she had to hunt online for good cartoons to watch.

Stupid international broadcast restrictions on new material, it made everything so sanitized and squeaky clean it was sickening. Even if there were series that bent the rules by being purely online, it meant that anything on the television was squeaky clean. Despite the sanitizing that it had to receive before even getting close to being put onto the schedules, Sweet Berry had wormed it's way into her heart with its awesome theme music and the female lead that always seemed to have something more to show than was ever brought up in the series. She almost wished she could find it in the original Japanese...

A few minutes online turned up a forum posting that promised that there was more, and that one only had to look closely enough to see the hints at the truth. Whoever they were, she barely spoke on the forum, and when she did she always had a vague teasing tone to her posts. Gina wanted to know more about her and the show after that. Sadly nothing ever came from the form she filled out and sent to her website those five years ago. It wasn't that she had expected much, but there hadn't even been so much as an automated response thanking her for her submission.

Haley had only approved of her filling out the form, since the most personal information it asked for was a screen name and her current age. She couldn't even remember what she'd put on the form, but it had a lot of questions about what she liked; things like animals, movie types, colors, and robot models. Dragons, comedies, maroon, and H.A.L.I. respectively, thank you.

Pushing off the end of the pool, she continued her lap wondering if she shouldn't try to track down that post again and see if she couldn't retake the form. It might be fun to see what Alice thought of it, and maybe have Haley take it again where she could see her doing it. Her mind was diverted by a near-miss with said droid that had accidentally kicked her way into the lane, and was struggling mightily to get back out of it. Instead of returning to her original thoughts, she focused on swimming her laps, keeping a careful eye on where Haley was drifting along.

Three full laps later, and she pulled off to float next to Haley, instead watching as Alice cut through the water. For the first time thankful that no one else was here, she allowed herself a chance to really look over her friend's form. She'd already known her friend had an athletic trim, having seen her name on a the lists for a lot of the sports teams. But to see her while she was gliding through the water was another thing entirely. The way the water seemed to ripple off her body, with splashes of light dancing across her form, it almost seemed like one of those legends from ancient world history class.

Sure she felt guilty checking out her friend secretively like this, but she didn't know how her friend would react. In the stories, cartoons, and other media she'd checked out, it was one of two ways. The first was that she would hate Gina for all eternity. The second was that they'd kiss and wind up sleeping together in the first night. Maybe she should ask Haley to reinstate those parental blocks, but Sweet Berry always said, when the Parental Block page came up, ‘Parental Blocks are so Orwellian. Look him up one day. One of the few men with a lick of sense...’

But even with her limited experience with other people, she knew that there was a myriad of gray shades that this could fall under. They could still be friends, they could part ways amicably, it could just be a phase she was going through, or anything in between the two polar ends of the spectrum. She just couldn't risk it yet... not after finally finding a friend that she could be herself with. But maybe it was too early to tell her about that aspect of herself... she really didn't want to scare her off. But that could wait until after the movie tonight, for now she should get back to swimming.


	6. Sweet Berry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, what you’ve all been waiting for… Maybe… The Sweet Berry movie!  
There’s a few things in this chapter that you might well want to keep an eye on. Nothing is what it seems with Berry.

A nap later, and the girls were ready for the two hour movie premiere on the Sweet Berry site. Haley had woken them up a few minutes early so they could be fully awake when they finally get to watching the movie. It wouldn't do to have the pair falling asleep in the middle of the premiere after all, the popcorn would get cold and they'd miss the ending to the story. Some toffee for Gina and buttered for Alice. She was quietly thankful Gina brushed her teeth religiously for how much sugar she ate.

Thankfully, they didn't have to gather around the old small screens of the past, and instead were able to watch in the living room on the viewing wall. Some juice completed the viewing pleasure, since Haley refused to let them into the soda stores, as she felt it would keep them up all night long. The missed opportunity for the cake was ignored as the show began. After the title sequence of the heroine emerging from a rippling silver surface to explore the world she finds in several stills of her adventures, the movie began with Sweet Berry and her cat Herring sitting in her mansion.

Berry was working on something on the table, that the camera refused to show, while Herring was having some milk at her feet. A knock at the door alerted them to a visitor, Berry getting up and putting her stylus down on the table carefully as she opened the door to see Ms. Prudet, the local landowner and ostensibly Berry’s landlady, not that she’d yet paid her any rent.

“You and your Red Herring are overdue on your rent...” She sneered. Gina and Alice chuckled. This was usually how Berry’s adventures began, with Prudet noticing she’d not got paid any rent.

“Mrs. Prudet, good to see you again... I was just about to come see you about repaying you with a favour instead of money this month...” Berry answered. Standing up, she offered Prudet another chair in the room while heading for the doorway. “I'll go get some of your favourite tea, while we talk about the favour...”

“Black, no sugar, no cream,” Both girls chorused. They knew exactly why Ms. Prudet was called that. She was an ancient woman with ancient values. If a girl went round like Berry back in the 20th century, she’d be told to put something on. In the 21st century, however, girls dressed how girls wanted to.

Once the tea was poured out, with a couple sugar cubes and a generous amount of cream added to Berry's cup, Prudet turned her hatchet nose skyward as she usually did when talking with Sweet.

“As it may happen, I do need a favor performed Miss Berry... I am aware of your... inclination to go on adventures as though you were a boy... and I have a task that requires an adventurous person to complete... I had thought of asking Mr. Bobbins down the road, but since you offered, I'll ask you. As you may remember me telling you, my niece Shirley is coming to visit... and I would like to give her a present as a welcoming gift. The item that I think she would enjoy is sadly not available at stores,” Prudet explained before taking a sip of the tea.

She then sighed for some reason before she continued. “I think she would like the bald cat statue from the ancient Prudet vault... somewhere in the Wild Woods off your property.”

“A bald cat statue? Why would she want that?” Sweet asked curiously while leaning forward towards the older woman. “After all, I'm sure I have something she'd like just as much...”

“Is it from your mirror?” Prudet inquired with an imperious frown on her face, at the shake of the girl's head, her frown deepened, “Even still Miss Berry, I would prefer that you get the statue for me... before her arrival in two days...”

Sweet simply smiled as she finished her tea and set the cup aside. She was used to Prudet's distrust of her mirror after all, and besides it sounded like fun to go look for the statue. She hadn't been out in the woods for a while after all. “Alright, I'll do it!”

The commercial break began, and Gina gave a silent cheer. She had always loved episodes in the Wild Woods, since there was a chance her second favourite character Robyn Bobbins would be coming along on the trip, especially since Prudet had hinted about him. There was just something about the guy that made her really enjoy whenever he was on the show. For some reason there was something that reminded her of him in Alice, but she couldn't quite place it.

Sliding her eyes off the wall, to look at the blonde in question, she couldn't help but smile at the openly innocent way she was enjoying the show. It was almost like being with a little kid watching their favorite series. When Alice stiffened, Gina's eyes returned to the screen to see something odd being displayed. During the commercial breaks, they were having the viewers select the next path that Sweet would take.

For this one, it was which of her friends she would take on the adventure with her and Herring. The adventurous, and roguishly handsome as far as Gina was concerned, Robyn Bobbins, who explored the Wild Woods often, or the shy, bookish, and quiet Trinity Sanyo from the library who was said to have a map of the Wild Woods. Both of them could be voted on right from the couch with the remote.

“I think we should vote for Trinity...” Alice mused while looking pointedly at the remote next to Gina's feet. “She's seldom used, and I feel sorry for her...”

“W...well she would be out of place... this is more of Robyn's territory isn't it? He's better prepared for adventures in the woods,” the brunette defended while adjusting her glasses. They only had a few more minutes to select a choice, so they had to choose quickly. Picking up the remote she flicked nervously between the two choice, when she noticed that the center, Sweet Berry, icon was changing. “Hey... did that just read 'and'?”

“Yeah it did... you don't think they set it up for both of them to go, do you?” Alice asked while they watched the timer tick off the seconds remaining. “It would be a good compromise, as our choices both get to go...”

“Yeah...” was Gina's distracted answer as she hovered her thumb over the okay button. Something seemed off about having a hidden third choice like this, and she wasn't sure if her vote would count if she chose it. Her mental debate was cut off by a robotic thumb lightly pressing down on her own, choosing the ‘and’ option for them.

“There you go Lady Gina...” Haley answered with a satisfied tone as the timer reached zero and the voting results were announced. It seemed that a lot of people liked the option of having both characters going, as that choice had nearly seventy-five percent of the vote.

“Do you think that it was rigged that way?” Alice asked softly as the movie continued seamlessly as Sweet went off to the library to find Trinity first. When she got there, Robyn was sitting with the bookworm looking over a book. “Oh... looks like someone else noticed Trinity...”

Gina blinked and looked at the screen again, noticing that Robyn had his arm around the nerdy girl's waist gently pulling her into a semi-hug. The light blush on both of their faces seemed to confirm the suspicions she felt building about the two of them. “M...maybe they hooked up recently or something?”

Haley frowned deeply as she watched the two girls scooted closer together, they seemed to be getting too comfortable together for her liking. Her routines were conflicted over whether she should separate them or encourage the activities of the two. Alice was pulling Gina away from her. It wasn't fair, she'd been here first. She shouldn't be pushed aside like an old toy or something...

When a brunette head landed on her shoulder, she couldn't help but realize that the two hadn't been scooting away from her. Instead they'd been scooting over towards her and were piling on her like a comfortable pillow.

Her processors were thrown for a few cycles as Alice reached over and patted her on the knee softly, causing the robotic girl to look at her curiously. The soft smile informed her about the fact that Alice wanted her included, not excluded. But that didn't make sense, only one could be Gina's best friend, only one would hold that position in the girl's heart. There was just something off about the entire scenario.

“Look at that, they just met up with Kitty Wyld... she's offering to help them out...” Gina stated while pointing at the faux-fur bikini clad wilderness girl that had just flashed onto the screen. It seemed like the adventure was going to be far larger than originally advertised. The second commercial break began as they arrived at a rickety looking bridge.

Before the other two could answer, a new vote popped up onto the screen, one to ride river down to where the statue was hidden, or to use the bridge and cut through the woods to get there. Flicking between the choices failed to reveal a third option, so the debate was on for which path would be best. Alice wanted to send them down the river since it was a fun and wonderful ride, while Gina thought the bridge would be the safer route and be better in the long run. Haley just thought both were valid options, and didn't have a preference.

Just before the timer ran out, the decision was made, and the bridge won out in the end. Mostly because Haley sided with Gina when forced to choose in the end. So the group set off across the bridge, barely making it across before the entire thing collapsed and went rushing off downstream, and they discovered that they’d made a wrong choice, as it showed that most of the viewers had chosen the river.

“The bridge was far from a good choice,” Berry cut in, “Thankfully, it lasted long enough for us to cross. But do be careful...”

“That was a close call...” Alice mused while the characters on screen all watched the bridge flow away into the distance.

“Yeah...” Haley and Gina agreed with equal parts shock and disbelief. Even if they knew the characters were just cartoons, they didn't think that they would kill off several of the favorite characters like that. The problem with that is that that was a very close call.

Several hands of munched popcorn, and a commercial break without a choice, later, and they were frowning in confusion at what just happened. Somehow in the middle of a forest there was a huge pyramid that looked straight out of a kid's blocks set.

“Why is there a Mayan pyramid in the middle of a North American forest? That just doesn't make sense!” Haley asked, voicing the confusion that everyone was feeling.

“Maybe it's how the Prudet's showed off their wealth in the old days?” Alice offered weakly as the trio watched the group entering the monolithic geometrically perfect ruins. Inside it was lined with bricks that shone like polished gold in the portable lights of the group. Each design was enhanced by jewel-like twinkles shining back at them.

As the group explored the depths of the long forgotten treasure trove, Gina couldn't help but let her attention flag, instead looking at Haley and Alice quietly in thought. She knew that there was tension between the two of them, though she tried to force herself to not pay it any attention. It was such a weird feeling being stuck between two friends like this. She wanted them to get along, but didn't know how to bring that about. So instead she played ignorant and hoped for the best.

Mostly because she knew that if they started fighting, she'd have to choose, and she really didn't want that. Even as new to her as Alice was, she was still a nice person, and her first friend aside from Haley. She really wanted to be true friends with the both of them, but if they started fighting, she knew that would be impossible. Silently, she couldn't help but wonder what Sweet Berry would do in a case like this?

She always knew how to handle fights between friends, and was so amazing while doing it. A part of Gina was jealous of her for that, but she knew that it was because Berry was written to be a friendship icon. Curling into Haley a little more, she sighed and returned to the movie just as the group arrived in the room of the bald cat statue. Seeing it herself, the brunette couldn't help but wonder why on Earth Prudet's niece would want something like that. It looked like a cat alright, but was pretty ugly in reality. If she had to describe it, it looked like canvas stretched over the muscles and bones of a cat.

“Yikes...” Gina whispered softly, getting a giggle out of Alice. As the blush burned her cheeks she looked down nervously. “I mean it's a good quality piece but...”

“It is a fairly accurate piece too, Lady Gina,” Haley added quietly, even as her own processors alerted to her displeasure of the look in general.

“Eurgh...” Kitty Wyld stated, Berry miming throwing up, both Robyn and Trinity nodding.

“Typical Prudet,” Berry grumbled, “Look, Personally, I’d want to have it end up downstream with the bridge, but Prudet would have me out of the mansion by the end of the week...”

“So, What do you want to give her?” Robyn asked, “You know she’ll flip if you give her the wrong thing...”

And then it was the new choice for over the next commercial break. Should Sweet get a gift for the niece to welcome her to the area, or should she just leave it at the statue? No words needed to be spoken as Gina cast the vote for the gift for the niece.

As the vote was cast, there was a giggle, and it was revealed to be a trick question as several items from Sweet Berry’s catalogue appeared, consisting of a choker, tea set, a hand mirror, and a box of freshly-made chocolates, with Sweet Berry appearing.

“This is YOUR choice, so don’t waste it. What happens next depends on your choice... What do you think I chose for Shirley Anne Prudet… who is anything but one. I’ll let you know after you’ve seen your ending,” Berry declared.

“Shirley A Pru...” Haley began, then chuckled slightly, as they realised what the joke was with Shirley’s name. The three girls looked at each other curiously, as though trying to figure out which of the options seemed the best for the gift. Gina flicked her eyes over to the choker and tea set, knowing that they’d both be wonderful choices in her opinion.

“Hmm... The tea set, according to the catalogue, isn’t JUST a tea set...” Haley stated as she pulled up the information of the items on the screen. “Also the chocolates are rather low on the popularity rankings due to the price… Most of the people on the boards think Prudet would accuse her of wasting her rent money on something so garish,”

“Yeah, and you have to take into account that some people are allergic to chocolates...” Alice answered while leaning back into the couch. “The hand mirror just seems like a good choice, but a bit egotistical, and I think Prudet would reject it because of Berry’s mirror.”

“She did make a mention about it directly at the start of the episode, didn’t she?” Gina asked curiously while wondering quite what Prudet had against the mirror, “The choker is a nice one, but I think it wouldn’t be a good choice without knowing more about the niece…”

“So the tea set?” Alice asked curiously while Gina hovered over it the item they had decided upon for their choice, “Would you like the choker for yourself, Gina?”

“I... I don’t think so...” Gina answered quietly with a heavy blush as she rubbed the choker she was currently wearing, having not taken it off earlier, as it was very comfortable. It felt almost perfectly natural for her to wear it, like she had worn it for her entire life. “I like this one more... and the bell would annoy me after a few hours.”

They then noticed what Gina had. It wasn’t _just_ a choker either. But the website wasn’t saying what the secret of the items was _until_ they’d voted, a comment stating ‘No Cheating!’ on the pages. They made their choice, while Alice pulled her knees up to her chest as she imagined the choker on Gina, wishing that she had Haley’s visual overlay protocols. She was getting a vague image of her in her mind, but there just wasn’t as clear an image as Haley probably had right now.

“OK, Now we’ve voted. What goes with the tea set and choker?” Gina asked.

“With the tea set is a dress of a domesticated house servant complete with a frilly cap, and black Mary Jane shoes. No, Alice, Gina, we are not getting anyone a set,” Haley stated, “Apparently it is a part of a maid cosplay set, and a rather expensive one at that. The tea set is pure silver, and all of the clothing are designer name brands.”

“The choker’s also fairly popular, and is part of a set of catgirl cosplay items,” Alice stated, “Personally, Prudet would likely accuse it of being from beyond the mirror… Anyway, Most of the cosplay kits are of similar, if not superior, quality. It’s one of Berry’s guarantees... You could almost use the costumes for actually doing the job in a lot of cases with ones like the tea set one,” Alice assured them while they continued to wait for the time to count down. “I did a little browsing in study hall once... or twice...”

“I... I did a bit of it too...” Gina admitted with a blush, Haley wondering if she should mention her interest in a few items that could get her into trouble with Gina and her parents, and her new filter for screening of the entire catalogue every time it updated. She thought of Gina in the ‘few cosplay items’ that Alice had found, and blocked that catalogue entry as well, stopping Gina from seeing what came with the choker completely.

“Good choice!” Berry exclaimed with a similar giggle as the ‘trick question’ cue, as the tea set, now sat atop the folded clothes, flashed into view on the screen, before drifting down into Berry’s hands, “I’m sure that she’ll love these everyone, thank you! And all those who picked the choker, Didn’t you remember what Prudet said about my mirror?! Very poor choice!”

Gina and Alice looked startled, as they noticed that it was a draw between the tea set and the choker… but Berry had broken the tiebreaker with a reminder about what Prudet had said.

Returning to the adventure, Sweet beamed to Kitty, Robyn, and Trinity that were hauling the cat statue to the Prudet house, wrapped up in a lovely white bow. Sadly it didn’t do anything to prevent the statue from being a complete and utter eyesore. The wagon in which the statue rested creaked and groaned under the weight, almost as if it was protesting carrying the cat in its cargo area. Ringing the bell, Berry waited patiently with a playful smirk on her face. She knew that the girl would likely hate the statue, and that the tea set would placate Prudet long enough for her to give her niece the dress.

As the door opened, she was rather surprised that instead of the hatchet nosed woman she was expected, instead she was met with a cute young brunette with small, square glasses sitting on her petite nose. “Hello? May I help you miss?”

“Yes, I’m Sweet Berry, and I’m here with a present for you from your aunt...” Sweet answered while smiling and holding up the tea set and clothing. “This is a little gift from me and my friends, to welcome you to the neighbourhood...”

The girl blinked owlishly before taking the items from Sweet in shaking hands that caused the metal set to clatter noisily as she looked them over curiously. “T...thank you... I... I’m Shirley...”

“Maybe a later adventure should be to get her contacts...” Gina joked dryly as the brunette pushed up her glasses nervously. “Not that she needs them, she looks good in glasses...”

“Are you sure you just like people wearing glasses, Gina?” Alice asked curiously while she casually pushed the glasses up on Gina’s nose with a large smirk on her face. Haley let out a small laugh as she watched Gina blush and look down shyly. This would be another one for the cute Gina moments folder... and she briefly wondered if she should show Alice the folder sometime. It would be a way to build a bridge towards being friends, and might net her many more interesting pictures for the folder. Now all she had to do was find the right time to offer it.

“She looks like you somewhat...” Alice mused, “Cute, pretty and good in glasses!”

And Haley promptly blocked the tea set. She wasn’t going to give this girl ideas for how to dress Gina. Even if it was acceptable, especially with how she liked working in the kitchen.

On the screen, Prudet was making a grand showing of the statue to her niece, getting a rather uncomfortable look from the girl in question, though it wasn’t an outright dislike of the item. It was a good indicator that the cat statue wasn’t a hit with the niece however, and though Prudet gushed about it, it did seem that even she wasn’t buying it. When her back was turned to her niece, Prudet missed the sight of Shirley looking at Berry nervously as though trying to figure out a way to accept the gift, without actually taking ownership of the monstrosity that was currently sitting in front of her.

Sweet gave her a sheepish grin in return and a helpless shrug as the only answer she could give. Robyn and Trinity took to looking anywhere but at her, and Kitty seemed to be more interested in the portrait of a flock of birds taking wing before a sunset. Apparently she was suffering from dry lips as she constantly licked her lips slowly as though to moisturize them. It was curious how much attention she was paying to the bird portrait, when there were other pictures of just as amazing quality a short distance away.

Gina and Alice chuckled as they realised what really was going on, Haley joined them shortly as her processors caught up with the more free association based minds of the younger girls next to her. As the episode wrapped up, and the statue mysteriously vanished out of the window, to the street five stories below. No-one seemed to want to admit to being horribly clumsy, and there were several snickers from the audience, especially as Prudet discovered about her niece’s new clothing, and realised Sweet Berry had beaten her again...

As the ending credits played, Gina yawned and stretched out her back while Alice worked out a knot in her lower back and Haley unfolded her legs in front of her. “That was nice... wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was,” Alice agreed just before her back popped noisily before a blush lit up her cheeks brightly. “Umm... I can explain that...”

“It is the removal of bubbles of gases in the joints of your spinal column,” Haley answered clinically while she began collecting the dishes to put them into the kitchen to clean while Gina was in school tomorrow.

“I don’t think that’s what she meant...” Gina explained as she finished off her glass of juice handing it off to Haley with a grateful smile, just before the trio was alerted to more coming after the credits.

“Hey! Gina, Before I go back through the mirror, You and your friends really paid attention to the really important clues tonight!” Berry declared, while sitting proudly at her desk with the mirror in the background, “Shirley went round as a maid for a few days after that adventure happened, and me and her are really good friends now!”

“How?” Gina mouthed.

“Considering it’s your house, and you are an only child...” Haley offered, “She’d know it was you hosting a Berry watching here...”

“Thank you very much for all your help!” Sweet called out before pulling up a piece of paper and waving it in front of the camera. “I hope to see you all in my Dream Mansion really soon! Use the code SHIRLEY IS SWEET to get the maid set when you start, and THE PRUDET CAT to get the choker, as well as all that comes with them! You get both codes, since they, ahem…”

“Both are equally valid...” Shirley stated, as she walked out in the catgirl suit, before following Berry through the mirror.

“Was that...” Alice started while pointing at the screen.

“Yeah... the first public advertisement of the game and a special code for all the people who, presumably, got the right answer,” Haley answered dryly while Gina nodded mutely as she made a mental note of the spelling and where she should enter it, “I wonder why she gave us a code for both?”

“Since, as she said, they were both correct. Berry only gave those who thought Shirley’s current attire was what she gave them got told off for picking it...” Haley offered, while Alice’s face looked slightly pink. Considering she compared Shirley to Gina… and those codes would give them both sets...

“Now you two should get to bed... sleep well girls,” Haley ordered as she walked out of the room towards the kitchen. She would be joining them shortly to recharge her batteries and to ensure that they were in their own beds. Gina walked out of the room quietly with Alice following behind her. A good night’s rest would be just the thing before having to go to school tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to post a side story with the adventure in a few days, complete with the scene variations, including all of the endings.
> 
> As an aside, anyone who didn't get the maid costume didn't get any codes, since, in their versions of Shirley's Arrival, for various reasons, Shirley was not pleased with Berry at the end.


End file.
